The Lakers aren’t bidding against themselves when it comes to free agent Christian Wood, but it does appear they’re in wait-and-see mode in regard to the forward. Although Los Angeles only can offer the veteran minimum salary to Wood currently, he apparently remains the team’s top target as it looks to complete its roster.
But according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, the belief is that the team would “prefer to get something done sooner than later” on its final roster spot. And Wood? He reportedly remains the team’s top choice.
“Despite defensive shortcomings and personality issues,” Woike wrote.
From the reports and rumors that have come out, the way Woike describes it seems to pretty much hit the nail on the head. Although the former Mavericks big man remains the team’s top target at this point in free agency, Woike spoke one to one source previously who went as far as saying getting Wood to “toe the line” would cement LeBron James’s status.
“If LeBron [James] can get him to toe the line, it cements LeBron as the greatest player of all time,” one NBA source told Woike. “That’s how hard it is.”
Woike explained that the aforementioned “personality issues” are essentially a disconnect of how Wood views himself in the league versus how the league views him. This is never an ideal situation, and concerns over Wood’s “professionalism” also were cited by Woike.
So what’s next for the Lakers? The approach by general manager Rob Pelinka to target a player who’s averaged at least 16.6 points per game in four of the past five seasons seems to be the right play. But it doesn’t necessarily mean things will pan out if the team does sign him—but at the very least, pairing him with James and Anthony Davis could prove to be the best thing ever to happen to the 27-year-old.
