The Los Angeles Lakers are the proverbial tale of two halves. One half of their regular rotation is an elite starting lineup that includes two All-NBA players, a former All-Star, and two productive young wings who have yet to enter their respective primes.
The other half consists of a second unit that ranks dead last in so many statistical categories that JJ Redick may one day bring himself to playing his starters all 48 minutes.
Thus far in 2024-25, the Lakers' second unit ranks dead last in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks per 100 possessions. Statistics may not be everyone's cup of tea, but what's undeniable in this set of circumstances is that Los Angeles can't buy a bucket when the starters aren't on the court.
The Lakers have the luxury of starting Anthony Davis and LeBron James, which thus offsets some of the concerns about the second unit, but they've also left themselves with no margin for error.
It's still early enough that panicking would be premature, but the need for improvement must be acknowledged. Some of it comes down to limited playing time due to how close the games have been with the starters on the court, while other areas of inconsistency can be attributed to the presence of unproven players still finding their footing.
Thankfully, there's a player who could soon return from injury and help right the ship for the Lakers' second unit: Christian Wood.
Christian Wood has become exactly what the Lakers need
Wood signed with the Lakers in 2023 on a minimum contract that was well below his perceived market value. Unfortunately, he struggled to stay healthy, missing 32 games and never seeming to find his place under former head coach Darvin Ham.
In 2024-25, the Lakers have needs that perfectly align with Wood's greatest strengths—making his highly-anticipated return from arthroscopic knee surgery a potentially landscape-altering moment.
Wood struggled in 2023-24, but he's been one of the most productive players in the NBA since 2019-20. At 28 years of age, there's every reason to believe that he can get back to playing at the level he's proven capable of for years on end.
In terms of what that would mean, between 2019-20 and 2022-23, Wood averaged 16.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.6 offensive boards, 1.0 block, and 1.5 three-point field goals made on .520/382/.692 shooting.
Those numbers are already impressive, but what's made Wood one of the most intriguing players at his position is how his production translates to the per-36 metric. During that timeframe, he averaged 22.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.1 offensive boards, 1.3 blocks, and 2.3 threes per 36 minutes.
For a Lakers team that can't seem to buy a bucket for its for second unit, adding a player who can provide 22 and 11 per 36 while shooting efficiently from beyond the arc would be a blessing.
The encouraging sign with Wood is that he told reporters on Media Day that head coach JJ Redick wants him to play more like himself. Fast forward to early November and that's exactly what the Lakers need him to do once he's healthy.
The Lakers need other players to step up to turn the second unit into a strength rather than a weakness, but Wood is looking like the perfect player to help change the outlook.