Christian Wood Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers’ Christian Wood Opts In For 2024/25

May 7th, 2024 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers big man Christian Wood has exercised his player option for 2024/25, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The move guarantees Wood’s $3,036,040 salary for next season, postponing his free agency until 2025.

Wood, 28, remained on the free agent market for over two months last summer despite averaging 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 25.9 minutes per game across 67 appearances for Dallas in 2022/23. He eventually signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Lakers that featured a player option on the second season.

Wood played a limited role in Los Angeles, averaging 6.9 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 50 games (17.4 MPG). His shooting percentages – 46.6% from the floor and 30.7% on three-pointers – were both well below his career rates and his season came to an early end when he was sidelined by a left knee injury in February that forced him to undergo arthroscopic surgery in March.

The veteran forward/center was technically cleared to play in the final two games of L.A.’s first-round series vs. Denver, but the club opted not to use him after such a long layoff.

Given how much trouble he had finding a favorable deal in free agency a year ago, it’s no surprise that Wood opted into the second year of his existing contract after a down season that ended with a major injury. His option decision doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be back in Los Angeles for ’24/25, since he could be a trade candidate this offseason.

Wood is the second player to pick up a player option this spring, joining Bulls guard Lonzo Ball. The full list of pending player option decisions – which features four more Lakers, including LeBron James – can be found right here.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Bronny, Trade Market, Vanderbilt, D-Lo, More

April 30th, 2024 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

While Darvin Ham‘s future – or lack thereof – with the Lakers figures to be a hot topic this week, what happens this offseason with LeBron James figures to have the more significant impact on the franchise in 2024/25 and beyond.

James is considered likely to play for a couple more seasons, one source briefed on his thinking tells Shams Charania, Jovan Buha, and Sam Amick of The Athletic, so retirement is extremely unlikely. He’ll have a decision to make on a ’24/25 player option worth more than $51MM and both routes – opting in or out – remain on the table, per The Athletic’s reporters, who say the four-time MVP would like to get a sense of how the Lakers’ offseason is playing out before finalizing a decision by the June 29 deadline.

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin hears that team officials didn’t have any real sense, as of last week, of what James will do with his contract, but both he and The Athletic’s trio agree that the Lakers want to bring back the star forward. LeBron’s relationship with Lakers ownership is “better than ever,” according to Charania, Buha, and Amick, and the front office would be open to discussing any contract scenario, including the maximum three-year, $164MM deal it can offer, team sources tell The Athletic.

“He’s not the problem here,” a high-ranking team official told The Athletic.

What did James have to say after Monday’s season-ending loss when asked about his contract situation? Not a whole lot, as McMenamin relays.

“I don’t have an answer … to be honest,” James said. “I haven’t given it much thought. … We’ll cross that when we need to.”

Asked if Monday’s loss might have been his last game as a Laker, LeBron replied, “I’m not going to answer that.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Team sources tell Charania, Buha, and Amick that the Lakers are “very open” to the idea of potentially drafting Bronny James to help LeBron fulfill his dream of playing with his son. The Lakers currently hold the No. 55 pick in the 2024 draft — they’ll also have No. 17 if the Pelicans opt to defer the L.A. pick they’re owed until next season.
The Lakers are expected to be aggressive in the trade market this offseason, per Charania, Buha, and Amick, who reiterate that Hawks guard Trae Young is viewed one of the team’s “many” potential targets. Young’s backcourt mate Dejounte Murray will also be discussed, says Dan Woike of The Los Angles Times.
As Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer notes, the Lakers will be able to trade up to three first-round picks this summer and have some appealing contracts that they could include in a deal, but there are other teams with larger collections of first-round picks who could potentially outbid L.A. for a star. League sources expect the Jazz and Pelicans to be among those who will be aggressive in trade talks, O’Connor adds.
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who had been sidelined since February 1 due to a right foot injury, was available to play in Game 5 on Monday, but he didn’t see any action, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Like teammate Christian Wood, who was available for Games 4 and 5 but didn’t play, Vanderbilt should enter the offseason relatively healthy.
Speaking on Monday to reporters, including Price (Twitter link), D’Angelo Russell said he hasn’t made a decision yet on his $18.7MM player option for 2024/25, but acknowledged that he has some leverage and indicated he plans to take advantage of it. Despite the Lakers’ disappointing early exit, Russell was proud of his season on a personal level, per McMenamin. “Hell of a year by D’Angelo. Humbly saying that,” he said. “Through the ups and downs, through all the whatever you want to call it, it never bothered me. I always kept myself sane.”
After joining the Lakers on the buyout market in the second half of the season, L.A. native Spencer Dinwiddie said on Monday that he’d love to return if the team is interested in re-signing him (Twitter link via Buha).
Elsewhere on the Lakers front, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) previews the team’s offseason decisions, Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times argues that the club needs to do whatever it takes to bring back James, and Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times describes the Lakers as a mediocre team with no clear path back to contender status.

Lakers Notes: Game 4, Hachimura, Wood, LeBron

April 27th, 2024 at 7:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

Despite a 3-0 deficit, the Lakers‘ confidence hasn’t waned going into tonight’s Game 4, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. L.A. has dropped its last 11 games to Denver, including seven straight in the playoffs, but the players aren’t convinced that the series is over.

“We have the guys here, we have the talent, for sure. You know, I don’t think anybody can beat us, you know, just the talent-wise,” Rui Hachimura said Friday. “… In my opinion, yes, we have the talent here, we have the guys that can beat any team in this league. And I talked to somebody about it too, but just this first round against Denver, it’s a conference final, it’s the exactly last thing. But even that, it’s the same story. We always up 20 and then we just come back and lose. So we just gotta put everything together and tomorrow we’ll see. We’re gonna play the same way and just gotta continue.”

Coach Darvin Ham isn’t planning any changes to his starting lineup, saying he wants to give his current unit a chance to respond to the challenge that the Nuggets present, Woike adds. Ham, whose job may be in jeopardy if the Lakers can’t rally, described the team as disappointed by its performance so far.

“Guys are irritated, frustrated, fed up, ready to make a change in terms of not continuously going down this road,” Ham said. “And the overall theme was just our mindset. Belabor the problems, what’s gone on up to this point or shift our focus to how do we stay alive? And looking at the film, had a really good first quarter. How can we sustain that type of performance during the duration of the game?”

There’s more on the Lakers:

Christian Wood has been medically cleared for tonight’s game, according to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. The backup big man underwent surgery in March after missing about a month before that due to swelling in his left knee. Wood appeared in 50 games and averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per night in the first season of a two-year contract he signed last summer.
There was a sharp contrast after Game 3 as Nikola Jokic talked about the long process of building a competitive team and LeBron James questioned what some of his teammates were thinking during the game, notes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. The stability in Denver may lead to a second straight title, Shelburne adds, while the discord in Los Angeles will likely result in another summer of change.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines what the Lakers might look like if James turns down his $51.4MM player option for next season and signs elsewhere in free agency. If D’Angelo Russell, Jaxson Hayes, Cam Reddish and Wood also opt out and New Orleans takes L.A.’s first-round pick this year, the team would have about $32MM in cap space to work with. Pincus suggests that if Russell picks up his option, he could be part of a trade package to obtain a reliable scorer such as Trae Young or Donovan Mitchell.

L.A. Notes: Leonard, George, Russell, Wood

April 27th, 2024 at 1:57pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Clippers fell to the Mavericks in Game 3 and are now trailing the series 2-1. Kawhi Leonard, who was questionable before the game with right knee inflammation, played just 25 minutes and recorded nine points, nine rebounds and four turnovers before exiting the game for the final time with over four minutes left in regulation, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.

Leonard missed the Clippers’ last eight regular season games and first playoff game. In his Game 2 return, he played 35 minutes but missed 10 of his 17 shots and scored just 15 points. He admitted that the inflammation is still bothering him.

“It was pretty good the first game,” Leonard said of the inflammation. “Like I said, it didn’t respond the way we wanted it to. Tonight it was either play limited minutes or not play. And I wanted to be on the floor to help the team. And, that’s what the results are. Frustrating that it happened to me this late in the season. But, yeah, we’re going to keep going. We’re going to get it right.”

Head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters that the team was managing Leonard’s minutes and is trying to be smart with how the’s used, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk (Twitter link). According to Youngmisuk, Lue said Leonard will be available for Game 4.

We have more from L.A.:

Paul George is averaging 4.7 fouls per game so far in the playoffs and has committed at least four in every game. Law Murray of The Athletic analyzes how George’s fouls are costing the Clippers in the series vs. Dallas. George has as many fouls (10) as field goals made (1o-of-25) in Los Angeles’s two losses. “Defense can be physical, they can be aggressive on me,” George said. “Other side of it, I pick up quick, cheap ones. And, you know, it’s frustrating. But I got to be better — I got to be better.“
Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell has had an up-and-down series against Denver, shooting just 6-of-20 for 13 points in Game 1 before making seven three-pointers in a narrow Game 2 loss. In Game 3, as the Lakers went down 3-0 in the series, he made none of his seven shot attempts and was held scoreless. According to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha (Twitter link), coach Darvin Ham said he’s not considering benching Russell. Ham plans to roll out the same starting five for Game 4, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Lakers reserve big Christian Wood, out since Feb. 14 with a knee injury, was upgraded to questionable ahead of Game 4, according to McMenamin (Twitter link). Wood, who averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 50 games this season, had reportedly been aiming to return in Game 3, but remained sidelined on Thursday.

L.A. Notes: Vanderbilt, Wood, George, Leonard

April 25th, 2024 at 7:56am CST by Luke Adams

Injured Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (right midfoot sprain) and big man Christian Wood (left knee surgery) had both been aiming to return to action for Game 3 on Thursday, but it appears they’ll remain sidelined for at least one more game. Los Angeles has listed Vanderbilt and Wood as out on the official injury report.

As we noted on Tuesday, it’s unclear how much the Lakers would actually use Vanderbilt and/or Wood if they were available. Vanderbilt hasn’t played since February 1, while Wood has been on the shelf since February 14, so both players would likely have some rust to shake off in their first game back.

Still, the Lakers are already facing a 2-0 deficit against the defending-champion Nuggets, who have beaten them 10 times in a row dating back to the 2022/23 season. If Vanderbilt and Wood are available, it’s worth seeing if they can provide some sort of spark. However, it seems L.A. won’t get that chance until at least Game 4.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two L.A. teams:

As discouraging as their blown 20-point lead on Monday was, the Lakers were able to take some positives from their Game 2 performance during a Wednesday film session, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “We generated some great shots. We missed a lot of shots at the rim that we’ve been making throughout the course of this season,” said LeBron James, who went just 4-of-11 at the rim, per ESPN. Head coach Darvin Ham added that he likes film sessions because they remove “post-game emotions” and allow the team to zero in on specific areas to improve: “It’s not just, ‘We failed, let’s scrap the whole plan and go this way.’ No. You have to understand why things went the way they went.”
Three-and-a-half months after Kawhi Leonard signed an extension to remain with the Clippers, the team still doesn’t have a new deal in place with Paul George. However, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report says that multiple sources still expect George to re-sign with L.A., either via an extension or free agent contract.
Leonard and the Clippers struggled to find a rhythm on Tuesday in the star forward’s first game in April, but George is confident that it won’t take long for the club to get more comfortable, as Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times relays. “I mean, y’all know this: Kawhi is one of the best in the world. He’s going to find his rhythm. We’re going to find our rhythm around him,” George said. “We feel good about it despite … I don’t ever like to take or look at the moral victories. We lost (Game 2), which is frustrating and upsetting, but it is great having … (Leonard) back out there with us and we’ll all adjust. We’ll get our timing back, our rhythm back and getting a better flow.”

Lakers Notes: James, Davis, Vanderbilt, Russell, Wood

April 21st, 2024 at 2:38pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers All-Stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James submitted good-but-not-great outings in L.A.’s 114-103 Game 1 defeat against the Nuggets on Saturday, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.

Guided largely by the efforts of those two stars, Los Angeles led Denver by as many as 12 points in the first half. James had 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe, along with eight assists, six rebounds, a steal and a block. He also turned the ball over seven times.

Davis scored 32 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the floor and 8-of-9 shooting from the foul line. He also grabbed 14 rebounds, dished out five assists and blocked four shots.

No other Laker scored more than 13 points. Woike notes that Denver enjoyed distinct advantages in offensive rebounding and combined second-chance and fast-break points, which also seemed to help make the difference.

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

Backup Lakers combo forward Jarred Vanderbilt is in a walking boot as he continues to deal with a right foot injury, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register (Twitter link). Los Angeles head coach Darvin Ham claims the boot is not a setback, noting that “everything’s still going to plan” with regard to Vanderbilt’s recovery.
Starting point guard D’Angelo Russell had been on a tear for much of the second half of the 2023/24 regular season, and seemed primed to avenge his forgettable showing in last year’s Western Conference Finals defeat to Denver with this first round rematch. He had a rough Game 1, however, scoring just 13 points on 6-of-20 shooting from the floor. Ham made a point to defend Russell after his uneven showing, per Dave McMenmain of ESPN. “D-Lo is a huge reason why we’re here in the first place,” Ham said. “I’m not going to bail out on my player just because he’s missing the shots that he normally makes. So same shots were going in against New Orleans [in the play-in tournament] and other games that he’s played in to help us get to this point. So it just wasn’t his night.”
Reserve Lakers big man Christian Wood is hoping to return in time for Game 3 of the series, when the action moves to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). He has been sidelined since a February knee surgery. Ham, however, cautioned that Wood “still [has] a couple boxes to check” before he can come back in this series, according to McMenamin (via Twitter).

Lakers Notes: Vanderbilt, Hachimura, Wood, Prince, Reddish, Offense

March 23rd, 2024 at 8:19am CST by Tristan Tucker

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has tinkered with the team’s starting lineup over the course of the season, but no matter what he tried, he was having difficulty finding one that stuck. According to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, Ham planned to start Jarred Vanderbilt as the fifth starter alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves in early February, but injuries to James and Davis sidetracked that plan.

Then, shortly after, Vanderbilt suffered a foot injury and hasn’t played since Feb. 1. A player with a unique skillset who helped propel last year’s late-season run, Vanderbilt’s absence was and is a big blow to the Lakers. According to Buha, there is internal optimism that Vanderbilt will return before the regular season ends next month.

Someone needed to step up in Vanderbilt’s absence and, so far, the Lakers have seen success with Rui Hachimura taking over the fifth starter spot from Vanderbilt and Taurean Prince, the latter of whom has been a starter for most of the year. The Lakers moved to 12-5 with Hachimura in the starting five next to James, Davis, Russell and Reaves after beating the Sixers on Friday.

“I’ve been telling them, like, this is who we are,” Hachimura said. “We’ve been trying a lot of different things, some lineups and all this stuff, but this is the lineup we had in the playoffs and that’s how we won, so it’s simple. … It’s just that we know, we’re just really comfortable playing each other.”

Buha further explores why it took so long for the Lakers to get back to lineups featuring Hachimura, which had success last postseason. As Buha explains, Vanderbilt’s preseason injury caused the team to pick between Hachimura and Prince for early-season starter, and Prince won out due to his professionalism and consistency. Prince’s ties to Ham also helped keep him in the lineup for as long as he was.

But with the team floundering and lineups featuring Prince next to the stars continuing to be outscored, the team made the move to Hachimura. So far, the new starting group is outscoring opponents by 42 points and has a plus-8.0 net differential.

We have more from the Lakers:

In the same article, Buha writes that while Christian Wood is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with his knee injury, there’s a chance he can make a return for the Play-In Tournament or the playoffs, if the Lakers make it. Wood is averaging 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds this season.
Prince missed Friday’s game against the Lakers due to personal reasons but he’s expected to be back in the lineup on Sunday against the Pacers, according to Buha (Twitter links). Prince is averaging 9.0 points and shooting 38.7% from beyond the arc in 66 appearances (49 starts) this season.
After he’s been in and out of the lineup due to injury over the past couple months, the Lakers are optimistic that Cam Reddish will be available and able to help the team during the final stretch of the season, The Orange County Register’s Khobi Price writes. Reddish has missed 19 of the last 24 games due to a sprained right ankle after originally suffering the injury on Jan. 23. Ham expressed confidence he’ll be able to help sooner than later. “He should be able to find his rhythm pretty quickly,” Ham said of Reddish. “Obviously, there’s gonna be a little bit of rust and it’s always like that when you’ve been out of the lineup. But for the most part, the things he needs to do to help us win, he should be able to fall right back in the pocket pretty smoothly.“
The Lakers are running more sets and organized offense, leading to the second-best offensive rating in the league over the past two months, Price observes in a separate article. L.A. is continuing to put forth solid halfcourt offensive displays and are thriving in games with controlled offense. “Getting off to good starts, when the offense gets stagnant, we can run a few sets to get the ball popping again,” Russell said. “It’s vital for us. We’ve got a lot of guys, a lot of talent, can easily get in ‘Hero Mode’ and it can hurt us as a team. So just keeping that ball popping. Having everybody trust the pass. It’ll be contagious, making us hard to guard.“

Christian Wood To Undergo Arthroscopic Surgery On Left Knee

March 18th, 2024 at 9:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers big man Christian Wood will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee and is expected to be sidelined for several weeks, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin tweet.

Back on Feb. 21, a report suggested that the Lakers felt Wood’s knee soreness was relatively minor and that he’d be back in action in a couple of weeks. However, the injury obviously hasn’t healed to expectations.

Wood appeared in 50 of the team’s first 56 games, averaging 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per night in his first season with the Lakers. He hasn’t played since Feb. 14.

Wood surprisingly remained on the free agent market until early September last year, when the Lakers signed him to a two-year, veteran’s minimum contract. He holds a $3MM option on his contract for next season.

Wood and the Mavericks failed to reach an extension agreement last season and he didn’t generate the type of interest normally conveyed to players who averaged 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest during their walk year.

The Lakers currently hold the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. Wood probably won’t be available until later in the postseason, if the Lakers advance.

Lakers’ Wood To Be Reevaluated In Two Weeks; LeBron To Miss Thursday’s Game

February 21st, 2024 at 9:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

9:34pm: The Lakers are optimistic that Wood’s injury is relatively minor and that he won’t miss more than a couple weeks, a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link).

7:15pm: Lakers backup big man Christian Wood has been diagnosed with swelling in his left knee and will be reevaluated in about two weeks, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

Wood has appeared in 50 of the team’s first 56 games and was able to play 16 minutes last Wednesday in L.A.’s final game before the All-Star break. He’s averaging 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per night in his first season with the Lakers.

The team is listing LeBron James as out for Thursday’s game with Golden State due to the peroneal tendinopathy in his left ankle that has been affecting him for a while. He also missed last Wednesday’s contest and sat out the second half of Sunday’s All-Star Game.

James has been receiving treatment on the ankle this week, but it hasn’t responded well enough for him to take the court. Thursday will mark the eighth game he has missed this season, and it comes at a crucial time as the Warriors are just a game-and-a-half behind L.A. in the Western Conference play-in race.

Lakers Notes: Dinwiddie, LeBron, Russell, Reaves, Injuries

February 13th, 2024 at 1:53pm CST by Luke Adams

After going through his first practice with the Lakers on Monday, veteran point guard Spencer Dinwiddie explained why he chose Los Angeles over the Mavericks when he became a free agent last week, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“The two situations kind of felt like this: Let’s say you were a kid and you got your ass whupped by the bully,” Dinwiddie said. “Dallas would’ve been like your momma being like, ‘It’s OK, baby. Don’t worry about it.’ Lakers are like your dad: ‘Nah, you better go out there and fight ’til you win.’ You feel me? And I just felt like that was what I needed at the time. I’m a big believer in kind of doing what you need to do at whatever time it is.”

As McMenamin notes, Dinwiddie played for the Mavericks and head coach Jason Kidd from 2022-23, but has never played for his hometown Lakers or Darvin Ham, so that represented the more challenging, less familiar route for the 30-year-old. Dinwiddie added that Rob Pelinka was the first team executive to call him after he was waived by Toronto, which made a strong impression.

The veteran guard will be reuniting with a few former teammates in L.A., including D’Angelo Russell, Taurean Prince, Rui Hachimura, and Christian Wood. However, as McMenamin writes, Dinwiddie made it clear that none of those players were the most influential voice in his ear as he made the decision to join the Lakers.

“How the hell we going to give C-Wood the credit? Bro, what are we doing?” Dinwiddie said with a laugh. “Look, C-Wood was impactful. … (But) I’m giving the credit to Bron (LeBron James).”

Here’s more on Dinwiddie and the Lakers:

While Dinwiddie will slot in behind Russell and Austin Reaves‘ on the Lakers’ backcourt depth chart, Ham said he can envision using all three guards in certain lineups, perhaps even to close games, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “All three of those guys can play together,” Ham said. “His size, he can guard bigger wings. So if we have to finish the game with those three, he’s definitely more than capable of doing that. We will look at some lineups with the three of those guys, along with Bron and AD. But I think he complements them well. He can defend, he can pass, he can dribble, he can shoot.”
Like he did in his previous contract, Dinwiddie negotiated a $1 incentive in his new deal that he’ll earn if the Lakers win the championship, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. His base salary will increase from $1,554,654 to $1,554,655 in that scenario. Dinwiddie told reporters that the $1 championship incentive has become something of inside joke between him and agent Jason Glushon (Twitter video link via McMenamin).
Cam Reddish (right ankle sprain), Max Christie (right ankle sprain), Jarred Vanderbilt (right mid-foot sprain), and Gabe Vincent (left knee surgery recovery) will all be reevaluated after the All-Star break, the Lakers said on Monday (Twitter link via Khobi Price of the Southern California News Group). Some of those players are closer to returning than others, with Vanderbilt’s status for the rest of the season notably still up in the air.