History outlines a bleak future for Christian Wood on the Lakers
By Jason Reed
After weeks of being idle, the Los Angeles Lakers finally signed the floor-spacing big man who was heavily connected to the team. Los Angeles signed Christian Wood to a two-year contract with a player option for the second year. Naturally, Lakers fans started hyping Wood (and the roster).
On the surface, it looks like a great move. Wood is a solid offensive player and is one of the best shooting bigs in the sport. Anyone who just glances over the box scores will see a player who looks like they can play a big role during a championship run.
However, those who watched Wood know about the shortcomings in his game; those fans know that Wood is horrific defensively and has not been the biggest team player at times in his past. That is the entire reason why he was still available for the veteran minimum in September.
But still, anything can seemingly happen with Wood as there are previous examples of players coming to Los Angeles and maximizing their game. While there is promising history there with the franchise, in reality, recent history indicates that this signing will go the other way for LA.
History tells us that the Christian Wood signing won’t work for the Los Angeles Lakers.
There are multiple telling signs from recent history that should be a warning for Wood’s arrival in Los Angeles. Fans have to look no further than another recent center that was getting hyped to the moon, Mo Bamba.
Bamba, who is also a floor-spacing center, never quite found his footing in LA. Granted, some of that was due to injury but even when he was healthy Darvin Ham refused to give him much of a role. There was a lot of hype around Bamba’s ability to play the five and still provide floor-spacing, allowing Anthony Davis to play the four (sound familiar?). Ultimately, the two never really shared the court.
Ham showed fans with his handling of Bamba that he is going to play the guys he likes who buy into what he is preaching. What is the biggest thing that Ham preaches? Defense. What is the thing that Wood is the worst at? You guessed it.
This is a team that also still has scars from the locker room distractions that spawned from the Russell Westbrook saga. There is very low tolerance for more distractions in LA, especially as LeBron James gears up for potentially his last run at a title being a superstar.
Not to mention that the Lakers have a tumultuous recent history with the center position. Rob Pelinka has shuffled through centers like an automated machine under a blackjack table. Since 2018 there have been 15 different centers who have played at least 20 games for the Lakers. That is the most in the entire NBA, with the Houston Rockets being the next team in line with 13.
History tells us that Ham won’t like what Wood brings to the table, won’t play him if he doesn’t like what he is doing and that the front office won’t hesitate in moving on from him and not letting the situation drag out.
History says that this Wood signing isn’t going to last long. And unfortunately for the Lakers, because of his player option, the team cannot simply buy him out. If they do, they are going to have to pay his 2024-25 salary as well.