Today, the Los Angeles Lakers signed forward/center Christian Wood, as announced by Rob Pelinka, Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager.
During the 2022-23 season, Wood participated in 67 games, out of which he started 17 for the Dallas Mavericks. In these games, he had an average of 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 blocks, while playing for 25.9 minutes per game. His field goal percentage was 51.5% and 3-point percentage was 37.6%. Last season, the California native had 12 double-doubles and scored in double figures in 54 games, including 25 games where he scored 20 or more points. Last season, Wood blocked at least one shot in 42 games. In 17 of those games, he blocked more than one shot, and in two games, he blocked a season-high five shots.
Over the course of seven NBA seasons, the 27-year-old has played for various teams including Dallas, Houston (2020-22), Detroit (2019-20), New Orleans (2018-19), Milwaukee (2018-19), Charlotte (2016-17), and Philadelphia (2015-16). He has played in 289 games, 139 of which he started, and has averaged 14.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game while playing for an average of 24.2 minutes each game. He has a field goal percentage of 51.8% and a 3-point percentage of 37.9%.
Christian Wood went to UNLV for two years, from 2013 to 2015. He played in a total of 63 games, starting 34, and averaged 10.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks in 23.3 minutes per game.
Soon after the deal with the Lakers was made public, Wood wrote on Twitter, “It’s always been my dream to be a laker.”
Christian Wood is the fifth experienced player the Lakers have brought in this summer. This comes after LeBron James and Anthony Davis led them to a great run to the Western Conference finals. Los Angeles also signed 7-footer Jaxson Hayes, forward Taurean Prince, point guard Gabe Vincent, and swingman Cam Reddish. They kept free agents D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura.
After Mo Bamba got hurt last season, the Lakers had to finish the season without a true backup center. With Hayes and Wood on the team, Davis should be able to play less physically demanding minutes in the middle.
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