It's not a stretch at all to think that the Los Angeles Lakers got even better this offseason after their remarkable midseason turnaround during the 2022-23 campaign. The Lakers, in addition to bringing back three crucial members of their core this past offseason on reasonable deals (Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura), also brought in the likes of Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, and Christian Wood to give the team even more depth as they prepare to face the gauntlet that is the Western Conference.
However, one signing in particular may not bring forth the rewards Lakers fans expected. especially relative to the hype the acquisition generated. There's a huge reason why this certain player has bounced around the league in recent years, with his most recent team even refusing to bring him back even though his value has fallen considerably.
It may be preseason, so everything is an overreaction at this point. But still, the early eye-test on this “major” signing of sorts is not looking good.
Here is one early concern for the Lakers during the 2023-24 NBA preseason thus far.
1 early Lakers concern from 2023-24 NBA preseason: Is Christian Wood just not that good?
On the surface, Christian Wood looks like a game-changing pickup for the Lakers. It's not too often that a player who averaged 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds on 51.5 percent shooting from the field and 37.6 percent shooting from three (on 4.2 attempts per night) is available on a minimum salary. That alone should constitute a win; Wood's offensive upside is very tantalizing, as he can catch fire on any given night and swing the game in the Lakers' favor. Watching Wood's scoring highlights can get any Lakers fan to buy in.
But despite all the hype the signing of Wood generated among Lakers fans, there's a glaring reason why he was available late in free agency for that cheap. As Dallas Mavericks fans can attest to (and they will without prompt, even), Wood is an abhorrent defender. It looks like he's processing the game at 2.5x speed. His reactions are lagging, his positioning is iffy, and his motor is incredibly inconsistent. There are plenty of times, during preseason alone, that Wood would be caught flat-footed or caught in two minds defensively, unable to contest the roll-man and the ballhandler (at least pick one, right). And he couldn't even secure the boards. (The Mavs were three percentage points worse on the defensive glass with Wood on the court last season — 78% vs 75%, per StatMuse.)
But the Lakers knew about those problems when they signed him. Fans contended that it won't matter as much since he's on a cheap deal (true) and that he'll be playing alongside more defensively adept players than he did when he was with the Mavs (also true). Anthony Davis' presence alone means that the Lakers have a legitimate defensive force who props up defenses (a la Kevin Garnett) for as long as he's on the court.
But what if Christian Wood isn't a good offensive player in the first place?
That seems almost sacrilegious; how can a player who averaged 16 and 7 not be a good offensive player? Perhaps, in a vacuum, that take can be laughed out of the building. Wood is a gifted scorer with a soft touch from all three levels on the court, and he's athletic enough to take advantage of mismatches especially against plodding big men. But his playstyle doesn't lend itself to winning basketball because of how selfish he tends to be on that end of the court.
During his preseason debut against the Golden State Warriors, Christian Wood spent the majority of his minutes as the Lakers' go-to-guy offensively. And the results weren't pretty to say the least. Over and over, Wood looked off his teammates, and decided that he's going to take it upon himself to score. He finished that game on 2-8 shooting from the field, and he was a -16 when he was on the court — a truly dismal number.
He had tunnel vision, and it seemed as though he believes his own hype, refusing to play within the offense and trying to carry his team on his own as if he's playing 1 on 5. Moreover, when calls don't go his way, he tends to sulk and complain to the referees instead of just hustling back on defense, putting his team on a disadvantage in the process.
Can Wood be a much better player than he's shown thus far? Perhaps. But the Lakers may have to make sure that Wood plays alongside teammates who can reel those ballhogging tendencies in and make him play within the offense. After all, and as we've seen in two preseason games thus far, there's simply no way the Lakers can extend or protect any lead (or come back from any deficit, for that matter) if they rely on Wood as their primary scoring option off the bench.
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