The Los Angeles Lakers have pivoted in their bid to add center depth to their roster after the failed Mark Williams trade by signing Alex Len off the buyout market. Due to the Williams trade failing, the Lakers didn’t have an extra roster spot and decided to waive Christian Wood to accommodate Len.
Wood was clearly not anticipating this, as he told Lakers fans on X that he was going to be ready soon exactly 30 minutes before Shams Charania revealed he’d been waived.
“Progressing… I’ll be back soon.”
Progressing.. I’ll be back soon .
— 35 (@Chriswood_5) February 11, 2025
Christian Wood didn’t play a single minute for the Lakers this season, being on the injury report all year long. He was in the final year of the two-year minimum contract the Lakers signed him to in the 2023 offseason. It seems like his NBA career is on the cusp of ending, as Wood is unlikely to find a home mid-season after playing no minutes all year.
He averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds with the Lakers last season, not proving to be very valuable to the franchise last season. Wood is clearly a talented basketball player, as evidenced by the three seasons he enjoyed before joining the Lakers.
He averaged 19.1 points and 9.9 rebounds in two years with the Houston Rockets before averaging 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds with the Dallas Mavericks. However, his teams missed the Playoffs in all three seasons while Wood fell out with teammates in Houston and coaches in Dallas.
The 29-year-old doesn’t have the best reputation around the NBA, so it’ll be hard to imagine a team taking a gamble on him to provide valuable center minutes after the last few years of his career. He has a chance at an NBA comeback in the summer, but Wood’s ‘be back soon’ tweet might be prophetic if he struggles to get another shot.
The Lakers have replaced Wood’s one-way offense for a workman center like Len who’ll do the bare minimum required by a competitive center. He can rebound and block shots while having better positional sense than Jaxson Hayes. But Hayes is an imposing lob threat who can greatly accentuate the Lakers’ offense with Luka Doncic as their point guard.
Wood and Luka have played before, with Wood having a great production season alongside him in Dallas. His poor defensive output, instincts, and habits made him fall out of favor with Jason Kidd as he lost his spot in the rotation despite the Mavericks crashing from the No. 4 seed to the No. 11 seed in a doomed season.
Funnily, the Mavericks could use a center like Wood to fill up minutes amidst an injury crisis at the position right now. However, it’s unlikely Wood reunites with Kidd in Dallas, especially after using ‘team culture’ to justify trading Doncic to the Lakers.
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