- Christian Wood is now a Los Angeles Laker
- Wood always wanted to wear the Purple and Gold
- Wood is likely to come off the bench
The Los Angeles Lakers made a number of notable free agency acquisitions this summer, with one of them being big man Christian Wood. The big man is widely considered to be one of the best adds to the Lakers, as his production from last season largely outweighs his current veteran minimum contract.
Christian Wood’s contract has a $3.0 million player option for the 2023-24 season, which means he can go elsewhere if he declines it ahead of the 2024 free agency. However, it seems as though Wood wants to remain with the Lakers for the long run, noting that they are his “hometown team”.
“Yeah, for sure. I mean, this is my hometown team. I’m from Long Beach. I grew up watching this team,” Wood said per Broderick Turner of Yahoo Sports. “I grew up a Kobe Bryant fan. This is where I want to be long term.”
It will be interesting to see if Christian Wood will be able to prove that he deserves a long-term contract from the Lakers this offseason. The key for him is being able to buy into a smaller role coming off the bench, and doing whatever Darvin Ham asks of him on the defensive end.
This past season, Christian Wood averaged 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game for the Dallas Mavericks. It will be interesting to see what his numbers will look like on the Lakers, and it is quite possible they will be lower due to him being in a limited role.
Christian Wood Wants To Destroy False Narratives About Him
There is no doubt that there have been a lot of narratives that have followed Christian Wood throughout his career. This season, Christian Wood is ready to destroy the false narratives about him, with Wood noting that he’s never “had any problem” at his previous stops.
“I think there’s a lot of false narratives out there about me. I think I put up 17 and 9 or something like that and I signed for a vet minimum. I’ve seen a lot of talk of ‘Why is he going for the vet minimum? Maybe it’s character issues, maybe it’s this, maybe it’s that.’ But when you really look at it I’ve never had any problem on a team.”
Hopefully, we see Wood have a solid season this year and show that he can be a winning player on the Lakers. He is definitely in a position to be very successful, and we’ll see how he meshes with the rest of the roster.
Christian Wood Could Be An X-Factor For The Lakers
There is no doubt that Christian Wood is a talented offensive player. He is a great 3PT shooter who also provides size at the PF position, and in theory, Wood is the right fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Pairing Wood with Davis in the frontcourt for spurts makes sense, as the duo can provide the team with a huge rebounding advantage while not compromising the team’s spacing. The key will be Wood locking in on the defensive end, as that is arguably his biggest weakness.
It will be interesting to see how a motivated Christian Wood looks going into the season. In some ways, he is playing for his future in the NBA, and perhaps he will show Darvin Ham that he needs to start for the team at some point this season.
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