Lakers News: NBA Sources Illustrate How Detrimental Christian’s Wood Fit in LA Could Be
The Lakers still have two open roster spots at the moment and have signaled that they want to use it on at least one more big man. It makes sense because their frontcourt is a bit thin behind Anthony Davis so adding in some depth would help everyone.
The team did sign Jaxson Hayes to a deal to backup Davis but making sure that they have extra bodies to work with is a smart game plan. LA has been looking to sign their final player but as of right now, there isn’t a ton on the open market.
Another issue is that the Lakers only have slightly above the veteran minimum to offer any player and often times, you won’t get quality at that price.
But there is one bigger name out there still and that is former Dallas Mavericks center Christian Wood. Wood has been subject to criticism for his defensive struggles but if LA could get him on a minimum contract, it would be a steal. However, it wouldn’t come without risks.
There is a reason why Wood is still a free agent at this time and it’s because he has some real deficiencies. As mentioned, his defense is an issue and the effort there has frustrated teammates and coaches during his past stops. There have also been issues with his professionalism at times, which will be a problem if he is on a LeBron James led team.
LA Times NBA writer Dan Woike points out some other issues with Wood and why it could harm the Lakers to sign him.
“It’s telling Dallas elected to let Wood enter free agency without a fight despite a roster built on being competitive now. A floor-spacing, long, athletic big should be an ideal offensive partner for Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. Instead, he’s unemployed. There’s risk in signing Wood, that the problems that have put him on seven teams in seven seasons would come with him to Los Angeles.”
LA may still elect to try and bring Wood into the mix. Maybe James can help him with some of his issues and having Anthony Davis playing alongside him could help the defense.
But the risk with Wood are there. LA is aware of them so it’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
