• Christian Wood has agreed on a two-year deal to join the Lakers
• This is Wood’s eighth team in as many seasons
• Tim MacMahon explained why Wood has struggled to find a home in the NBA
Christian Wood will hope to revive his career in the purple and gold of the Lakers, signing a two-year minimum contract after going two months without a team in free agency. The reason for the lack of interest in Wood has been his troubling professionalism and defensive holes, something that a Mavs official described as ‘f***ing terrible’ to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
“A lot of the same reasons why Christian Wood didn’t work out in Houston and in Detroit and in Milwaukee, New Orleans, we can go down the list. The guy is obviously a very talented offensive player, but every coach he has had does not want him. Frankly, Jason Kidd didn’t want him when they made the trade. It never clicked. He has nights where he plays well enough offensively that you forget the fact, as one high-ranking Mavs official put it. ‘The problem isn’t that he is a bad defender it’s that he’s a f**king terrible defender.’ That’s pretty much a direct quote.”
Christian Wood managed to be a pretty decent shot-blocker for Dallas last season, averaging 1.1 blocks over the season. In four games against the Lakers, Wood averaged 2.3 blocks. There is definitely some talent to be extrapolated there.
The issue has never been talent but it’s Wood’s complete inability to fit into a defensive system. The Mavericks’ movement-heavy defense that took them to the WCF in 2022 disappeared with Wood on the floor. He was also prone to fouling while protecting the paint, never fitting a defensive role, which led to Jason Kidd giving up on him.
Christian Wood’s NBA Journey
Christian Wood entered the 2015 NBA Draft as a projected late first-round pick before drastically falling out of the top 60 and going undrafted. Issues around his personality cropped up then and kept all teams away from drafting him. He signed with the 76ers and played in the G League but never found a consistent spot on the main team playing just 17 games before being let go.
Wood signed with the Hornets in 2016-17 and played 13 games before taking a season-long break from the NBA, and returning to the G League. He got another crack at the NBA with the contending Milwaukee Bucks in 2018-19 but was released in March 2019 after making 13 appearances.
This is where Wood finally got a chance to show his talent. He signed with the Pelicans in 2019 to fill in minutes for the injured Anthony Davis, who had demanded a trade and is now Wood’s teammate in LA. He averaged 16.9 points in eight games and was given a contract by the Pistons with a rotational role for the first time in his career.
Wood excelled on the court with the Pistons, but the team chose to start tanking with him on the roster, letting him go to the Rockets who found themselves in a similar situation with Wood for two seasons. They sent him to the Mavericks, where Wood failed to impress the front office or coaching staff, leading to a two-month wait to find a new club before the Lakers came calling.
Eight teams since 2015 is a very bad look for a talent like Wood, but maybe the Lakers can be where he finds a long-term role.
The Lakers Are Hoping To Dominate
Even before the Christian Wood signing, the Lakers looked really strong for the 2023-24 season. They have depth across all key roster positions, with the only question being the bodies behind Anthony Davis. With the addition of Wood to go along with Jaxson Hayes, the Lakers have a solid center rotation.
It could all not work out on the court ultimately. Wood may still struggle to find his role on a Lakers team where he’s not going to be a starter and fail to adapt. However, given the troubling past he has had in the league and LeBron James personally having shown an appreciation for his talent, Wood needs to ensure that he doesn’t burn bridges with the Lakers.
Buying into your role and performing it to the best of your abilities gets you paid. Look at players like Fred VanVleet, Bruce Brown, and Dillon Brooks who signed massive contracts this summer based on what they can provide to a team despite not having the best box score numbers. If Wood can add his good numbers with a great attitude, he could be a very valuable modern-day big man.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
