Christian Wood signs 2-year deal with Lakers

[Dr Aki]

He's like a more mobile, better defensive Thomas Bryant

Super low (defensive) bar but he's at least playable next to AD

[dhsilv2]

Wanna see how he and AD look on the floor at the same time , especially if he buys into Ham's defensively philosophies even just remotely this could prove solid.

why would their minutes overlap?

because he can shoot good enough to stretch his man away from the paint in the halfcourt and AD doesnt like to play at the 5 all the time he actually hates it , so put Wood at the 5 AD at the 4

There is no "4 or 5" spot on the floor...but AD would still have all the rim protection roles on defense and would be the only one of the two they'd post up. Not sure what this changes. AD would still do more big man stuff the wood's no matter what you call him.

[zimpy27]

He's like a more mobile, better defensive Thomas Bryant

Super low (defensive) bar but he's at least playable next to AD

The LeBron, Reaves, Vando, Wood, Davis lineup would be nuts..

Vando and Reaves defend guards. LeBron on the SF. Davis on the best of PF or C. Wood taking the worse of PF or C.

[Goomba3666]

Dude's career will 100% end in LA. Gonna get blasted after every mediocre game and get zero credit for any contributions he makes.

Media Gonna crush this dude.

[BliscoSantos]

Who else was??not a single report either...maybe Miami,but only for the minimum...why is that?

Marc Spears on ESPN reported that both the Heat and the Bulls also wanted him.

If you're a 17/10 player, with a good 3 pt shot, still young and only have vet min offers from 2/3 franchises only, it raises a flag.
FWIW, I didn't see anything justifying the lack of interest in him, he should at least be MLE player, yeah, he's lost defending the P&R, but he can score easily, and blocks the occasional shot.
People keep flashing his negative on/off rating, he didn't start as a negative in DAL, he was a positive, and fans started to demand he starts instead of that clown Javele, but Kidd kept toying with his minutes, calling him out in press conferences, until he stopped contributing.
There was a period mid season where the Mavs had 3-4 players out, they had a short rotation, and went on 6-7 games winning streak, Wood played his heart out in these games.
He didn't stick around anywhere, but from where I was watching, a lot of what happened in DAL was on Kidd, a lot on Wood too...

Wood has an ego which his play can't Match...he'll have streches when he looks good, but then he'll be totaly unplayable next games...His D is terrible as is his passing,when he gets the ball the movement stops...he's not a team Player,he's a ME first guy
I doubt he'll accept his role as a 15-18 min a game guy...judging hy his statement he expects to Play a big role on the Lakers...it's more likely LeBron gets fed up with him and they release him

[Wonka]

Funny how the Lakers brought him in so that AD can play the almighty 4 instead of the 5. Doesn’t AD have at least 25 lbs on Wood lol?

[liquidswords]

I'm now really confused by what the lakers are doing - every single player they signed (maybe sans Cam Reddish) deserves minutes. How are they going to squeeze in all these players? I look at a guy like Taurean Prince, who is an amazing fit next to Lebron and AD, and wonder what his mins will look like now.

[OriginalRed]

Lakers always seem to be able to sign these high risk low reward type of players every off season.

[MoneyMo]

Funny how the Lakers brought him in so that AD can play the almighty 4 instead of the 5. Doesn’t AD have at least 25 lbs on Wood lol?

That's what I'm saying. Christian Wood is 6'9, 214lbs. If he shares the court with AD, AD is playing the 5.

[Marrrcuss]

Lakers always seem to be able to sign these high risk low reward type of players every off season.

The New England Patriots of the NFL

[phanman]

I'm now really confused by what the lakers are doing - every single player they signed (maybe sans Cam Reddish) deserves minutes. How are they going to squeeze in all these players? I look at a guy like Taurean Prince, who is an amazing fit next to Lebron and AD, and wonder what his mins will look like now.

Both LeBron and Davis will miss a fair share of games. Plus for the team to achieve their ultimate goal, they need to find a way to remain competitive while both LeBron and Davis' minutes dip to ~30mpg.

35.5mpg for Bron and 34mpg for Davis is way too may now that they have wing/big depth in Vando, Rui, Prince, Reddish, Hayes and now Wood. Each guy provides brings something different to the table and his offensive prowess will be heavily featured with the second unit. He is an additional ideal PnR partner for their ball handlers as a floor spacer and rim threat.

With the team make-up, I wouldn't even start him next to AD. I think they should still roll with Rui. He can have that 6th man scoring role and be subbed in with Vando to limit his defensive miscues.

[SK21209]

I'm now really confused by what the lakers are doing - every single player they signed (maybe sans Cam Reddish) deserves minutes. How are they going to squeeze in all these players? I look at a guy like Taurean Prince, who is an amazing fit next to Lebron and AD, and wonder what his mins will look like now.

Both LeBron and Davis will miss a fair share of games. Plus for the team to achieve their ultimate goal, they need to find a way to remain competitive while both LeBron and Davis' minutes dip to ~30mpg.

35.5mpg for Bron and 34mpg for Davis is way too may now that they have wing/big depth in Vando, Rui, Prince, Reddish, Hayes and now Wood. Each guy provides brings something different to the table and his offensive prowess will be heavily featured with the second unit. He is an additional ideal PnR partner for their ball handlers as a floor spacer and rim threat.

With the team make-up, I wouldn't even start him next to AD. I think they should still roll with Rui. He can have that 6th man scoring role and be subbed in with Vando to limit his defensive miscues.

In terms of there not being enough minutes to go around, I'd keep an eye on the backup 2 spot. The frontcourt is pretty stacked with LeBron/AD/Rui/Vando/Prince/Wood/Hayes, but 20 year old Max Christie has been penciled in as the backup 2 with Reddish maybe threatening that spot. I could see Prince getting minutes at the nominal backup 2, he'll be a catch and shoot guy regardless of position anyway if he's playing with LeBron and one of Reaves/DLo/Vincent. I really like Christie and think he's going to be a legit player, but 20 year olds tend not to be rotation fixtures on good teams.

[phanman]

I'm now really confused by what the lakers are doing - every single player they signed (maybe sans Cam Reddish) deserves minutes. How are they going to squeeze in all these players? I look at a guy like Taurean Prince, who is an amazing fit next to Lebron and AD, and wonder what his mins will look like now.

Both LeBron and Davis will miss a fair share of games. Plus for the team to achieve their ultimate goal, they need to find a way to remain competitive while both LeBron and Davis' minutes dip to ~30mpg.

35.5mpg for Bron and 34mpg for Davis is way too may now that they have wing/big depth in Vando, Rui, Prince, Reddish, Hayes and now Wood. Each guy provides brings something different to the table and his offensive prowess will be heavily featured with the second unit. He is an additional ideal PnR partner for their ball handlers as a floor spacer and rim threat.

With the team make-up, I wouldn't even start him next to AD. I think they should still roll with Rui. He can have that 6th man scoring role and be subbed in with Vando to limit his defensive miscues.

In terms of there not being enough minutes to go around, I'd keep an eye on the backup 2 spot. The frontcourt is pretty stacked with LeBron/AD/Rui/Vando/Prince/Wood/Hayes, but 20 year old Max Christie has been penciled in as the backup 2 with Reddish maybe threatening that spot. I could see Prince getting minutes at the nominal backup 2, he'll be a catch and shoot guy regardless of position anyway if he's playing with LeBron and one of Reaves/DLo/Vincent. I really like Christie and think he's going to be a legit player, but 20 year olds tend not to be rotation fixtures on good teams.

D'Lo, Reaves and Gabe will take up the bulk of the guard minutes but as you mentioned, Prince is the ideal candidate to shift down if needed. He has the foot speed to stay with guards and this Lakers team is definitely going to be able to punish teams with their size throughout the rotation.

[KingFox]

Dude can flat out shoot. Idk much else about him outside of that an occasional blocked shot but he's better than anything else they could have gotten IMO

[Mr B]

Despite his reputation I don't view wood as a net negative player, he scores on elite efficiency and shoots the 3 ball very well. He can be a contributor and then ride the pine in the playoffs. Playing with LeBron will be great for him.

LeBron will trade him before the deadline. He’a that bad of a player.

Labron definitely will not put up with his ****. People think just because Wood gets buckets that he’s a good player. He has zero concept of team ball.

[Mr B]

No risk, high reward signing. Woods weaknesses are no secret, but I'm intrigued by his fit. He has never had a vet presence like Lebron or AD to reign him in, either he'll buy in or we'll get rid of his ass. Pelinka never left the kitchen.

I think there’s def a risk when a player has been a issue in the locker room. Remember the stink he make in Dallas when he wasnt starting and got his minutes taken. His contract is also guaranteed if he makes the opening day roster so thats not much time. But I agree, he’s played with Harden, Luca, and Wall but thats not the same as playing with Lebron. I dont see him acting out but he could be another Harrell.

The reasons his minutes got reduced initially were perplexing. As I understand it, a lot of the Dallas media and fanbase was asking for more Wood minutes after his injury. Let's not act like that Kidd staff or the Mavs org are infallible or unbiased decision makers.

The numbers simply don't bear out that he's an atrocious defender. There's a lot of unwarranted character assassination going on in the media for people who either aren't looking close enough and just parroting others, or from people like Tim Macmahon who want to control narratives related to their beat.

Finally, situations aren't identical: Schroder demanded to start in LA in 2021, lost a bunch of money, sucked in Boston, then came back to LA and far outplayed his contract.

I think if his time in Dallas was a character assassination Kidd or Cuban would have talked bad about him. They never did. His problem in Dallas is that he has no concept of team ball. He continuously blows defensive assignments to chase blocks or chase rebounds. Also he has a really low BBIQ. Whenever he was on the court Kidd was having to yell out his assignments on offense and defense. He’s an absolute ball stopper on offense too.

You are right though that these are two completely different situations for him. I just don’t see Labron putting up with him on the court. He’s going to frustrate the hell out of Labron.

[JustBuzzin]

Why is Dwight Howard unemployed?

[Pachinko_]

I remember when the bucks tried to play him with Giannis, it didn't work because he wanted to hold the ball and take too many shots, and Giannis and Khris ended up just looking at him. In the end they tried to use him as a (bad) sub of Giannis when he needed to sit, and he did score a bit but defensively it was like he wansnt there. Eventually they just let him go.

[tamaraw08]

Lakers always seem to be able to sign these high risk low reward type of players every off season.

High risk low reward?
They got him for the minimum and didn't have to give up any asset to acquire him, how is that high risk? They can simply order him to not show up if he fails miserably and this team would be all right.
Low reward? If he manage to play decent defense while shooting his normal 38% from 3, then this team would be much better.

[bstein14]

Dude can flat out shoot. Idk much else about him outside of that an occasional blocked shot but he's better than anything else they could have gotten IMO

He doesn't move as well on defense, but offensively he's a slightly better version of Trey Lyles who just got paid a bunch by Sacramento.