While the Los Angeles Lakers won’t take the court for the first time in the preseason until Saturday, the 2023-24 NBA season is already officially underway as the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves tipped off in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
The outcome of the first preseason game of the year really doesn’t matter. Minnesota beating Dallas is not going to give NBA fans an overwhelming sign about how the rest of the season is going to play out. These guys are just trying to get back into regular-season shape.
That being said, there are small takeaways from the game that could be the start of a bigger narrative moving forward. Fans should not take anything concrete from this first preseason game but there are still some things to learn that could blossom into more.
As far as the Lakers are concerned, seeing the Mavericks continue to play horrible defense (which plagued the team last season) despite Anthony Edwards not playing could be a positive sign for one of the newest players in town.
Mavericks’ bad defense could be a positive sign for Christian Wood on the Lakers
The Mavericks are out here playing ZERO defense.
— Raheem Palmer (@iamrahstradamus) October 5, 2023
Christian Wood is a polarizing player who was extremely hyped up by the fanbase when he was signed by LA. On paper, Wood is an excellent offensive role player who will provide floor-spacing and another scoring threat off the bench.
That being said, the hype for Wood was probably a bit overblown, as there are concerns about his game. It is never a good sign when a player has played for eight teams in eight seasons and success has never followed them. There are off-the-court concerns with Wood as well as concerns on the defensive end.
While those concerns are definitely warranted, Dallas’ preseason game on Thursday might indicate that it was more than a Wood problem. Wood was a terrible defender for the Mavericks and was someone who fans were sick of watching play by the end of the season. If the trend continues after the first preseason game then it appears Dallas may have a much bigger problem than just having Wood.
This does not mean that Wood is due for some insane turnaround that defies basketball logic. But it is worth noting that he has never played on a team that has this much defensive talent, especially in the frontcourt. Just having Anthony Davis next to him is going to make a huge difference.
Suddenly, the holes in Wood’s game defensively might not be apparent. They will still be there, but the Lakers seemingly have a better situation to mask those holes than Dallas (and his previous teams) had.
Then again, Lakers fans will know pretty early on whether or not this glass-half-full outlook is true. If Wood is struggling defensively in the preseason and continues to struggle next to AD then it will be clear that the jump to a better system didn’t change anything.
But for now, there is at least more hope that Wood could surpass his defensive expectations in LA.