Wood would have been a nice player to add. The need was not quite the same before Gallinari got hurt and RWill had his follow up surgery. At that point we expected to start the season with Horford, RWill, Gallinari, and Grant.
As to the trade for Wood, I don't know if we could have beat the offer or not (without having an immediate pick to offer). I don't see the issue being the salary, I see the issue being what you have to give up (picks, players) to get a 1 year rental of what at the time projected to be a bench player.
I can understand the debate, but to call this non-trade indefensible seems hyperbolic, especially when no one knows what we may have offered or considered. Now with the Gallinari injury and the RWill follow up surgery, it would definitely be nice to have Wood. But you can't really judge not doing a deal then based on what is known now.
Your points about Wood are fine, but not about not using the big TPE.
What we all knew in June/July
1. Horford
a. is old
b. has missed at least 12 games every season over the last several seasons
c. wasn't going to play back-to-backs and otherwise was going to have minutes scaled back significantly
2. Rob
a. was recovering from surgery and not yet able to do basketball activities
b. has missed significant time due to injury every season
3. Gallo
a. is old
b. hasn't had a season where he didn't miss at least 10 games since his 2nd year in the league and often misses at least 20
4. Grant
a. is too undersized to play PF/C for long stretches
b. isn't a good option to even spot start
So knowing all of that, it is absolutely indefensible to enter the season with Vonleh, Kornet, and Jackson taking up roster spots, especially when you give two spots to Hauser and Griffin. And that is made worse by having a 17 million dollar asset that you got nothing from. That is all further compounded by the fact that the big acquisition this summer is fairly redundant from a roster standpoint. Brogdon is obviously a clear talent, but going into the offseason, I think pretty much everyone would have had combo guard way down the wish list. You don't pass up the opportunity to add talent and the value was excellent, but with Smart and White already on the roster, not to mention Brown, Pritchard, and Tatum, finding another player in the ilk wasn't exactly a priority.