Lakers News: Los Angeles Fans React To Franchise's Christian Wood Signing
Your Los Angeles Lakers seemingly concluded their 2023 offseason in style, when they agreed to sign free agent sharpshooting big man Christian Wood, most recently with the Dallas Mavericks, to a below-market deal on Tuesday night.
Adding a 6'10", 27-year-old power forward/center who averaged 16.6 points on .515/.376/.772 shooting splits, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks per bout for Dallas in just 25.9 minutes off the bench certainly looks like a steal on paper. But how do the Los Angeles faithful feel about the newest addition to the Purple and Gold?The above tweet was perhaps the most understated we could source.
We took an unscientific poll of Twitter quick-reactions. And the news has been resoundingly positive!
The above tweet was perhaps the most understated we could source.
One hoop head was a bit hesitant, wondering how Wood, who's been something of a volume scorer in the past, would react to a reduced role on a team with lots of players expecting to see the rock more than him.
Starting center Anthony Davis has played with something of a rotating door of spacing-challenged backups during his time in Los Angeles. DeMarcus Cousins, his do-everything All-Star frontcourt teammate while the two were with the New Orleans Pelicans, joined the Lakers ahead of the 2019-20 season after his career had been beset by injuries, but suffered yet another ailment and missed the whole year.
Even former lottery pick Mo Bamba, supposedly a perfect 3-and-D fit, cratered when he arrived in LA at the trade deadline this past season.
#TEAMHENDO was pretty darn amped, channeling a certain GOAT in the midst of his 1991 title celebration (let's just not talk about which team his Chicago Bulls had to beat for this picture to happen).
Not everyone was an optimist. And to be fair, Wood has long been whispered to be a major locker room antagonist. But then again, LeBron James locker rooms get pretty much everyone to buy into their role.
Will Wood play ahead of Jaxson Hayes, who like Davis is another former New Orleans Pelicans lottery pick? I assume so, as I'll explain in more detail below.
Jaxson Hayes has been pretty darn unproven on the hardwood, and done some horrible stuff off it. I'd throw him out as being a particularly reliable frontcourt option. James, Davis, Hachimura, and Wood, however, comprise a pretty fearsome foursome, theoretically. We've seen how limited Vanderbilt can be in a postseason situation.
Wood's primary defensive asset is his defensive rebounding, he is not an instinctive post defender or particularly adept rim protector. But playing just 15-20 minutes a game on a competing Lakers team could be the perfect way to maximize his attributes and minimize his deficiencies.
Honestly I expected to see posts like this one.
Or this one.
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