Andrew Buller-Russ
Heading into the offseason with a limited amount of cap space after retaining valuable role players such as Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and D’Angelo Russell, the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t make a lot of extra noise in free agency.
But they were able to add Gabe Vincent early on before signing Christian Wood much later in the offseason.
Wood had plenty of opportunities to sign elsewhere but ultimately ended up with the Lakers on a two-year, $5.75 million contract. Yet the second year is a player option, giving him the chance to opt-out and cash in on a bigger payday if he plays well.
What’s unique about Wood’s agreement with the Lakers is that he’s taking a massive pay cut this season after playing on a three-year, $41 million contract with Dallas.
With Wood lingering in free agency for so long, it naturally led to outside criticism, suggesting teams didn’t want him. Reports questioning Wood’s work ethic and defense likely didn’t help matters.
Yet, on Friday, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham chose to address the concerns relating one of his team’s newest signees.
“I don’t know what happened in Dallas and that’s not my business. I don’t know. People say s—. ‘He’s lazy. He doesn’t play any defense.’ I know the kid. I know what he’s going to do for me and he’s done everything that I expected him to do up to this point since camp has been going on. And so, I don’t judge my relationship based off other people’s opinion of certain individuals. I deal with you directly and I have my own relationship with him and I know what he’s capable of and what he’ll do for me.”
Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham on Christian Wood
Ham makes it clear that he had no concerns over Wood joining the Lakers’ current effort to get back to the NBA Finals. Yet, having a previous relationship, dating back to when the 6-foot-10 scoring big entered the NBA as an undrafted free agent out of UNLV, surely helped during contract negotiations. Wood recognized back then, in 2015, the type of potential Wood had as a player who could help on both ends of the floor.
For now, Wood is mostly known for his scoring prowess, averaging as much as 21 points per game in 2020-21 with Houston. But Ham and the Lakers believe there’s untapped potential for the 28-year-old. Either way, operating as a backup to Anthony Davis, Wood will be ready when called upon.
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