The risk-free signing of Wood by the Lakers

Christian Wood, the Lakers’ latest signing, caps off a very busy offseason that has checked some important boxes.
The Los Angeles Lakers reached an agreement with free agent center Christian Wood on Tuesday, concluding his offseason moves about a month before training camp.

Wood tweeted that it had “always been my dream” to play for the Lakers. It turns out that his dream coincides with the wishes of the most important player in Los Angeles: Anthony Davis.

Sources told ESPN that Davis made it clear to the organization that he wanted more support at center so he wouldn’t have to play as much center during the regular season.

Davis was placed at center in 99% of his minutes last season, according to data from Cleaning the Glass. While Davis’ performance in that position earned him a three-year, $186 million contract extension this summer, the Lakers’ strategy with Rob Pelinka in charge of basketball operations has been to partner with their stars as stakeholders in the game. game. game. process.

Davis’ desire to spend more time as power forward was heard. In addition to Wood, Los Angeles also signed 7-foot Jaxson Hayes.

Wood, 27, is the seventh new face on a team that finished within eight wins of the title last season, losing in a sweep in the Western Conference finals to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets.

And while there is something to be said for some of the departing players (Dennis Schroder’s overall competitiveness, Lonnie Walker IV’s timing in the playoffs, Troy Brown Jr.’s role flexibility, and Wenyen Gabriel’s tenacity were all positives for last season’s team), Los Angeles has seemingly improved by keeping its core intact.

Easier said than done: Pelinka and the Lakers only had the biennial exception worth $4.5 million, the full midlevel exception worth $12.4 million and minimum veteran contracts to offer.

The Los Angeles summer, culminating in Wood’s signing, presents a cohesive vision. The Lakers didn’t make the same mistake of making sweeping changes that didn’t fit as they did in 2020-21. They didn’t prioritize name recognition and experience over youth and athleticism, as they did in 2021-22. They aren’t trying to make a three-star system work just yet, like they did in 2022-23.

They maintained continuity and added players who theoretically fit the defensive expectations Darvin Ham set in his first year as manager. They added players who thrived in high basketball IQ situations in Miami (Gabe Vincent) and Minnesota (Taurean Prince).

They took a chance on some young players with potential (Wood, Hayes and Cam Reddish). And they addressed the team’s one glaring weakness from last season by adding shooters everywhere they could find him: Vincent shot 43% on 3-pointers during the Heat’s run to the playoffs, Prince shot 38.1% from deep last season. pass and the two-way rookie signing. D’Moi Hodge made 40% of 3-pointers for Missouri last season.

Due to the timing of Wood’s two-year, $5.7 million deal (deal includes a player of the year 2 option), which came nearly two months after the team’s previous trades when he signed recruits Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis, it could be expected. go out more than others.

The truth is that the most important moves the Lakers made were to replace their own stars.

In addition to extending Davis, they re-signed the young trio of Austin Reaves (4 years, $56 million), D’Angelo Russell (2 years, $37 million) and Rui Hachimura (3 years, $51 million). That core helped Los Angeles go 18-6 through the end of the regular season, the gatehouse and the first two rounds of the playoffs. Add in a healthy and rejuvenated LeBron James for his 21st season, and there’s plenty of reason for optimism in Lakerland.

Wood could become a steal after a season in which he averaged 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 37.6% from goal for the Dallas Mavericks. He could use the Lakers’ platform in the same way that Malik Monk and Schroder have in recent seasons to restore value and gain an even bigger role if James or Davis miss significant time with injuries.

But if Wood, who, according to NBA Advanced Stats, finished last in the individual defensive rankings among Mavericks rotation players last season, doesn’t fit into the Lakers’ schedule of building a team for the 18th NBA championship, franchise. , there is little at stake.

Wood is a franchise that has been on a roller coaster since winning the 2020 Finals inside the NBA bubble in Orlando. Despite that title, a combination of injuries and disappointing trades has prevented the LeBron era from being considered a great success.

Now, like any team with title aspirations, the Lakers hope their bolstered roster, led by their latest major signing, can stay healthy. I knock on wood.