Christian Wood was always a per-minute stud; back when he was languishing on the Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans and Detroit Pistons' bench, many thought all he needed to break out as a star was opportunity. Fantasy basketball players know this all too well. And to some extent, Wood did break out after the Pistons dealt Andre Drummond away in 2020.
Wood emerged as one of the most versatile offensive centers in the NBA in mid-2020 and he did not look back. With the Houston Rockets, Wood brought out his entire offensive arsenal for the world to see. He was a nightly 20 and 10 threat thanks to his ability to put the ball on the floor which accentuated his speed advantage against most big men. To top it all off, his marksmanship from deep made him such a dangerous weapon.
Thus, when the Dallas Mavericks added him during the 2022 offseason, analysts thought that Wood would feast given the space he'd have playing alongside Luka Doncic. And sure, Wood was a dynamic offensive presence — when he was on the floor. Therein lies the problem; the Mavs coaching staff — Jason Kidd in particular — wasn't too keen on giving Wood heavy minutes given his lack of defensive nous.
The Mavs' trade for Kyrie Irving back in February only exacerbated Christian Wood's defensive woes; in fact, by the end of the season, Wood was playing a 20-25 minute role off the Mavs bench, never quite regaining his footing prior to his thumb injury in January.
Now entering NBA free agency on a downturn, Wood may find it difficult commanding the kind of contract he had envisioned before the season began. Wood may have to settle for a “prove it” contract in a contending setting, as he shows his worth to teams with lofty playoff aspirations.
With that in mind, these are the three best free agency destinations for Christian Wood.
Los Angeles Lakers
No, this is not one of those trains of thought where as long as a talented player is up for grabs, he'll automatically be linked to the Lakers. Christian Wood does make sense for the Lakers for plenty of reasons. Their frontcourt depth behind Anthony Davis isn't exactly the most impressive. Wenyen Gabriel brings hustle but is far too limited on offense, while Mo Bamba never earned the trust of head coach Darvin Ham. Wood, for all his faults, is an immediate upgrade over those two.
After all, Wood still averaged 16.6 points on efficient shooting splits last season. He will feast on the open looks he'll be getting when playing alongside LeBron James (assuming he returns donning the Purple and Gold) and Austin Reaves; he can certainly come off the bench and bring some offensive pop as well to give James and Davis some much needed respite on the bench.
Christian Wood's defensive concerns are definitely alarming. But with the Lakers, he will not have to worry about playing the role of defensive anchor. In lineups alongside Anthony Davis, it will be AD who takes on the responsibility of anchoring the paint. Wood also has a tendency to be lazy off the ball and be tardy with his rotations. In fact, the game might be too fast for him to process, as he sometimes helps when unnecessary and vice versa.
But LeBron James and the entire Lakers brain trust should help Wood lock in on that end of the floor on a much better level. And for the contract Wood would command in free agency (not too expensive), the Lakers could do a lot worse with taking a flier on the 27-year old big man.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets are still in the NBA Finals, so it's far too early to be talking about potential moves they should make with next season in mind. Even then, one position has always stood out as a position of weakness for the Nuggets — backup center. Throughout the 2023 NBA playoffs, the Nuggets have relied on Jeff Green to function as their backup center, which isn't exactly ideal.
They acquired Thomas Bryant with the hopes of filling that void, but Bryant clearly did something to piss off head coach Michael Malone that he hasn't appeared for a single minute in the playoffs.
Christian Wood may end up being guilty of the same things Bryant has done (lazy defense, offensive selfishness, inaccurate appraisal of one's skill relative to game impact, etc.). But there are no doubts that Wood is a much more mobile big man as well as a more versatile scorer than Bryant.
If Malone could get Wood to buy in, the Nuggets could very well have the league's best center and its best backup on one team.
Dallas Mavericks
Yes, it did not end well with the Mavs, but for Christian Wood's sake, staying with the Mavs should allow him to make as much money as possible (the Mavs have his Bird rights).
Losing a late first-rounder for one season of Wood won't really cause members of the Mavs front office to lose sleep, but that's not an entirely negligible loss either. Keeping Wood for the sake of protecting their investment may not be the best use of resources at the moment, especially when there are LeBron James rumors swirling around. But the Mavs aren't exactly in a position to lose assets for nothing.
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