The Detroit Pistons look like a whole new basketball team than they did a month ago, and for a few reasons, that is a good thing.

With the deal of Andre Drummond at the trade deadline for two expiring contracts in Brandon Knight and John Henson, Detroit has fully bought into the rebuild.

The rebounding at the center position has dropped off quite a bit. This time last year, the Pistons' leading rebounder in Drummond was averaging 15.6 rebounds per game, one of the top marks in the league. That average has dropped to 6.3 this season, with Christian Wood leading in that category.

The good news for the Pistons is that rebounding is really the only category that suffered a major drop-off when Detroit swiftly made the switch from Drummond to Wood as the team's main option at the 5.

Wood offers the Pistons so many more options at the 5 than Drummond ever could. As good as a rebounder Drummond was, he often struggled on defense and was limited to mostly lobs and dishes off the pick-and-roll on offense.

At 24 years old, Wood has had a very unconventional career path, as he is already on his fifth NBA team in just six seasons. When totaling up his counting stats in any category from his three prior NBA seasons, none of them exceeds this season’s output.

Wood gives the Detroit offense so many more layers. He can shoot the three off the catch to space the floor and can drive following a deadly pump fake before he can either rattle it home for a dunk or hit a rather effective floater.

It's hard to imagine a time where Wood was on the brink of making the team, as before the season started, many fans were debating whether or not to keep him or Joe Johnson, who was playing former players in their mid-40s in the BIG3 months earlier.

Of Pistons that have appeared in more than 50 games this season, Wood leads all Pistons with a scoring average of 12.6 ppg following Saturday. He also ranks 13th in the NBA in field goal percentage, which is ahead of All-Star big men such as Bam Adebayo, Domantas Sabonis and Nikola Jokic.

Going from a guy who was almost cut from the team to the leading scorer for said team is like a story out of a movie, and if the Pistons were not a bottom feeder in the NBA, Wood would be in the conversation for the Most Improved Player award.

James L. Edwards III makes a strong case in favor of Wood in his recent piece for The Athletic as one of the many Pistons fans who is shocked to see what Wood has become

(Wood) holds a true-shooting percentage of 65, which is first in the NBA among players with 50-plus games and who average at least 10 shots per game. That’s impressive, especially when you consider that Wood was a waiver-wire addition and fighting for the 15th roster spot with Joe Johnson to begin the season. Additionally, Wood’s numbers are even more impressive since the trade deadline, when his minutes went from 18 per night to, essentially, 33. Wood is averaging 20.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from 3.

Wood had what could have been interpreted as his best game of the season in Saturday's loss against Utah Jazz. Against one of the league's stiffest defenses, Wood posted a career-high of 30 points, beating his old career-high set on Wednesday by a mere free throw.

Being that the Pistons are undergoing a full rebuild launched by a youth movement, Wood can be a steady presence that can help them through that rebuild. With the way his game has matured this season alone, the Pistons would stupid to not offer him at least $10-12 million when his contract expires at season's end.

Before this season, Wood would have been an afterthought in the NBA landscape, falling off the radar of the league and eventually moving to play overseas like so many before him.

With the numbers he has put up this season, he is not going anywhere. Going from a guy who barely made the roster to a legitimate building piece who can score 30 points against top defenses means that Wood has to at least be in the MIP conversation.