The Philadelphia 76ers have a very young team right now and there is a lot of competition going on as they make their way through the preseason schedule. With only a handful of players guaranteed to make the team there are opportunities for players to make an impression and work their way onto the roster. One player that is doing that so far is Christian Wood the 20 year old undrafted rookie who is reportedly making a strong case for a roster spot, according to John Finger of CSN Philly.
Wood was considered a first round pick coming out of college at UNLV but on draft night he surprisingly went unselected. Wood played for the Houston Rockets in the summer league but he latched on with the 76ers for training camp. In his first preseason action with the 76ers the 6 foot-11 power forward scored 13 points and grabbed 10 boards while also displaying some range on his jump shot and he really caught head coach Brett Brown's eye.
"I think young Christian Wood. If you look at where he was projected to go prior to the season, he fell out toward the end of the year for whatever reason. They had him projected to be quite a high draft pick. I look at him and I see a bouncy, young athlete that can shoot. I think you have to look at something like that. He just has sort of come out of left field. You pay attention to that mostly because of his physical gifts and I think a little bit of his former reputation," said Brown, according to Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
In his final year at UNLV Wood was a dominating force as he averaged 15.7 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks while making 50 percent of his field goals in 33 games. Wood has a chip on his shoulder and he is doing everything in his power to make the 76ers 15 man roster, so far so good.
Not only does Wood have a very good shot to make the roster but he may have a shot to get into the rotation. Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel will start in the frontcourt but behind them Furkan Aldemir is the only player that is guaranteed minutes. If he makes the team, which seems likely right now, Wood may compete with Richaun Holmes for minutes as the backup power forward.