Christian Wood's first game against the Dallas Mavericks since his former team very publicly let him walk in free agency wasn't exactly the revenge he wanted. Not only did the Los Angeles Lakers waste a rousing fourth quarter comeback in a 104-101 loss to the Mavs, but Wood basically served as an afterthought at Crypto.com Arena.
“I know it’s my former team,” he said before the game, per Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “I definitely want to go at those guys.”
Wood didn't get much of a chance to fulfill that desire, playing just 15 minutes and watching Los Angeles' furious fourth quarter rally from the bench while finishing with one point, one shot attempt and five rebounds. But don't assume his lack of playing time and touches will spark the acrimony it might've across the veteran's previous stops during a well-traveled NBA career.
Wood indicated as much before tipoff against Dallas, a sentiment he echoed by espousing team-first principles after he was mostly a passenger for Los Angeles' hard-fought loss.
“I’m not playing a role I played the last four or five years, which was being a high-usage guy, taking a lot of shots,” Wood said after the Dallas loss, per the LA Times. “Playing this role player role, where I’m trying … if the team needs help with rebounds, I have to try and help rebound. And whatever they need to do, I’m there to do. Some nights, they’re going to run plays for me, some nights they’re not. I just got to be prepared for that.”
Christian Wood's role player turn with Lakers
Wood's brand in the league was tarnished by an ugly one-season stint in Dallas. Acquired from the Houston Rockets in exchange for a late first-round pick and salary flotsam before the season, Wood was supposed to provide Luka Doncic with the dynamic pick-and-roll partner and multi-level interior scorer the Mavs' franchise player never had. Instead, Wood quickly fell into Jason Kidd's doghouse, his role and playing time inconsistent due to widespread defensive issues and his struggles to form immediate chemistry with Doncic.
Dallas had the opportunity to extend Wood during the 2022-23 season and could've retained him on the cheap once suitors didn't come aggressively calling in the early stages of free agency last summer. But the Mavs never showed interest in bringing Wood back, with multiple reports stating they had no intention of re-signing him.
His bitter exit from Dallas and related inability to impact winning last season cooled Wood's market in free agency. Not only was he not getting the $20-plus million annual salary he once sought in an extension from the Mavs, but Wood didn't even have value at the mid-level exception.
Los Angeles snapping him up in early September on a two-year minimum laid bare what's been obvious about Wood's game since he joined the Houston Rockets via sign-and-trade ahead of 2020-21. Wood just isn't equipped to be a team's top-two option offensively and is too limited a defender at center to be anything more than a third or fourth big on a good team.
That's the role he's playing for the Lakers in 2023-24, one in which he's shown flashes of real utility but is still getting comfortable embracing.
“Maybe if I had five points, five rebounds and was a plus-15, I think that’s a great night for me,” Wood following the loss to Dallas. “That would be impacting winning. I’m not putting up 20-and-10s, 30s-and-20s and all this other stuff anymore. I mean, I can when given the opportunity. But this year, I think it’s just more about doing the little things to help out the team.”
Wood is averaging 6.8 points and 6.1 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game, shooting 45.8% overall and 31.6% on a career-high volume of three-pointers. He's used far more often as a quasi floor-spacer and weak-side release valve than on-ball screener or post-up option, with 78.9% of his buckets coming off assists, per NBA.com/stats—easily the highest mark of his career. Wood is playing the majority of his minutes at power forward, too, sometimes being asked to the guard the opposing team's top forward when he plays alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Needless to say, Wood is experiencing a new phase of his career with the Lakers. It probably hasn't gone as well as he anticipated, Darvin Ham occasionally playing Jaxson Hayes over Wood off the bench or just rolling with Davis as Los Angeles' lone traditional big as games come down to crunch-time. Wood's minutes could be cut further by the return of Jarred Vanderbilt, too.
Still, Wood has done all the Lakers have asked of him and realistically expected. That's a step in the right direction for a player who's never quite found his footing in the league, and an indication his circumstances and play could improve as the season wears on.
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