Christian Wood signs two-year deal with Los Angeles Lakers

Alex Kennedy
Sept 6 2023

Christian Wood has agreed to a two-year, $5.7 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Wood's contract includes a player option for the 2024-25 season.

Wood was arguably the top remaining free agent available this offseason, and now he'll join the Lakers and provide them with some frontcourt depth.

Last year with the Dallas Mavericks, Wood averaged 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.6 threes and 1.1 blocks in 25.9 minutes per game, while shooting 51.5% from the field, 37.6% from three-point range and 77.2% from the free-throw line.

In 17 starts with the Mavs, Wood averaged 20.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.3 threes, 2.3 blocks, 2.2 assists and .6 steals per game on 51.7/37.1/80.8 shooting splits.

After starting for the Houston Rockets during the previous two seasons, Wood adjusted to coming off the bench for Dallas for the majority of his appearances last year.

Wood is a nice offensive weapon for the Lakers, who are coming off a Western Conference Finals run. Wood has bounced around the NBA, and the Lakers will be his seventh team in seven NBA seasons. 

Perhaps being part of a contender with some strong leaders will be good for the 27-year-old, whose personality issues and defensive struggles were a big reason why he was still unsigned in September.

Los Angeles has been very active this offseason, adding Wood, Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes, Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish as well as re-signing Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and D'Angelo Russell.

Last year, the Lakers finished with the seventh-best record in the Western Conference (43-39). They finished the season with the NBA's 13th-best defense (allowing 111.5 points per 100 possessions) and 19th-best offense (scoring 111.8 points per 100 possessions).