Virtually any way you slice it, between keeping restricted free agent Austin Reaves at a surprisingly reasonable figure and adding valuable role players like Gabe Vincent and Taurean Prince, the Lakers have had a wildly productive summer.
And with free-agent big man Christian Wood joining the roster, too—at the veteran minimum, no less—it’s simply a cherry on top for Los Angeles.
That said, the ESPN report outlining that superstar Anthony Davis told the club he’d like to play less at center would seem to negate much of the benefit in adding someone like Wood.
Yes, Wood is a smooth offensive talent. Undeniably so. He’s a good finisher in traffic who has shot better than 75% within three feet of the basket for his career, per Basketball Reference. He was lethal in pick-and-pop scenarios with Luka Dončić in Dallas last season and has always been a fantastic jump shooter, as evidenced by his nearly 38% career mark from three. Wood knocked home 105 triples last season, and he canned a career-best 131 in the campaign before that.
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The issue, well documented at this point, is that Wood, who stands 6'9" and weighs just 214 lbs., isn’t a stout defender by any means.
The Mavericks were generally a rudderless defense last season, and things typically got worse when Wood was involved on that end of the floor. Dallas surrendered 115.7 points per 100 possessions—a number that would’ve ranked ninth-worst in the league—when Wood was on the sideline. When Wood was on the court, the number ballooned to 119.1 points per 100 possessions, which would equate to the NBA’s second-worst defense. (In case you’re curious about how the numbers are impacted by the presence of Dončić, a subpar defender in his own right, we’ve got you covered: The Mavs gave up an unsightly 117 points per 100 possessions when Dončić was on the court without Wood. Yet Dallas was even more of a sieve—giving up almost 120 points per 100 possessions—when Wood played minutes without Dončić.)
Between his thin frame and those ghastly defensive numbers, the suggestion is clear: Wood shouldn’t be logging too many minutes in a role where he is counted upon to serve as a defensive stopper. Davis, a Defensive Player of the Year candidate when he’s healthy, would be far more impactful as a rim protector, playing backstop to Wood, who almost certainly profiles better as a power forward defensively.
Of course there are other considerations in play. Davis, who won a title with the Lakers back in 2020, is always an injury risk, and he’s long said he prefers to play his minutes at power forward, as it takes less of a toll on his body over the course of the regular season. Last campaign, for the first time in his career, per Basketball Reference, Davis played 100% of his minutes at center, perhaps explaining why he approached the Lakers about wanting a change.
Wood’s floor-spacing ability certainly has the ability to make things easier on Davis from an offensive standpoint. Davis has struggled from the perimeter for years now, all while dominating from inside when he takes his shots from there. (Wood can have the same sort of impact on someone like Jarred Vanderbilt, who now can focus on offensive rebounding as opposed to trying his hand from outside, where he’s been a sub-30% shooter for his career.)
It bears repeating, of course, that Wood was acquired on the cheap and simply helps with depth for a contending team. This wasn’t a cap gamble anywhere near the scale of the Russell Westbrook situation from a couple of years ago. Wood can absolutely help the team, and he likely will at times with the sorts of scoring outbursts we’ve seen from him for years now. He dropped 23.1 points per 36 minutes last season and gives the team—one that has been shooting deficient at times—the sort of big-man floor-spacing threat it hasn’t had very often.
The only question is whether his shortcomings on the defensive end will ultimately jell with the wants and needs of one of the team’s superstars.
