Christian Wood averaged around 16 points and seven rebounds for the Dallas Mavericks last season, which, on the surface, are solid stats that make him worth retaining especially for a team with playoff aspirations. But there's a huge reason why Wood was available late in free agency, and why the Los Angeles Lakers were able to pick him up for cheap. Nevertheless, head coach Darvin Ham wants to give the 28-year old big man a clean slate.

Speaking with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, the Lakers head coach said that whatever happened with Wood when he was with the Mavs is nothing but a thing of the past and he won't allow it to cloud his judgement of the versatile scoring big man.

“I don’t know what happened in Dallas and that’s not my business. I don’t know. People say s—. ‘He’s lazy. He doesn’t play any defense.’ I know the kid. I know what he’s going to do for me and he’s done everything that I expected him to do up to this point since camp has been going on,” the Lakers head coach said. “I don’t judge my relationship based off other people’s opinion of certain individuals. I deal with you directly and I have my own relationship with him and I know what he’s capable of and what he’ll do for me.”

This, of course, is a great perspective from Darvin Ham, as past happenings aren't necessarily a surefire indicator of what's to come. But Christian Wood is already 28 years old, and, for better or for worse, he is mostly the player he is.

Sure, there is room for him to improve his glaring defensive weakness, especially when he's playing for a Lakers team that has the personnel to cover for him, but Ham is better off accepting Wood for who he is and part of who he is is who he was with the Mavs, and who he was with the Mavs was a terrible defender.

At the end of the day, Christian Wood has the talent to make critics of his eat their words, and it'll be up to Darvin Ham and the Lakers to get the best out of him this upcoming season.