Grade the trade: Lakers swap favorite for Christian Wood in proposed deal
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers have put together an excellent offseason that saw the team hit a home run in NBA free agency. With several impending questions entering the summer, the Lakers were able to not only retain last year’s core but to improve on it as well.
As it stands after all of the Lakers’ initial moves, the team has 13 players on the active roster. There is an obvious need at shooting guard and at center with Rob Pelinka confirming that the team was actively searching for another center.
This new center would preferably have a different skill set than Jaxson Hayes, meaning that the Lakers are looking for a big that can space the floor. With the free-agent center market being extremely limited, the name that instantly jumped off the page for the Lake Show was Christian Wood.
Los Angeles was confirmed to have some level of interest in Wood, whose market has deteriorated this summer. It does not appear that Wood is keen on taking a veteran minimum contract, though, and the Dallas Mavericks are reportedly willing to step in and help execute a sign-and-trade to make it happen.
This has caused many to pitch a sign-and-trade Lakers deal for Christian Wood.
This sparked quite a debate among Lakers fans on social media. Wood himself is already a polarizing figure — who arguably won’t work in LA — and the player the Lakers would have to trade for him would make the situation even more polarizing.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the trade that has caught Lakers fans by storm, break down the logic behind the deal, and give out grades to both Los Angeles and Dallas.