Returning Laker Forced to Pick up Minimum Option Due to Bad Reputation Around NBA: Report

Will he be able to rehabilitate his value this season?

Dec 28, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell (1) and forward Christian Wood (35) trail as forward LeBron James (23) takes the ball down court in the first half against the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Journeyman Los Angeles Lakers center Christian Wood is one of the most well-traveled players in the league. And that appears to be for good reason.

During a new mailbag, The Athletic's Jovan Buha revealed that the 6-foot-8 power forward/center was ultimately compelled to pick up his veteran's minimum player option with Los Angeles this offseason after failing to net any interest for higher-value deals across the rest of the NBA.

“He has this certain perception around him around the league,” Buha said. “And obviously, he did not have a market, otherwise he would not have opted in for a minimum player option. You don’t opt into a minimum player option if you have a market. So, there’s some red flags for sure with the Christian situation, and I see a path to it working out. I just also am like, ‘Why has he not been able to stay in most situations for more than a year, year and a half? Why does he have this bad reputation around the league where anyone you talk to just kind of starts s——- on him?’”

Wood initially went unselected in the 2015 NBA Draft out of UNLV. He was first picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers, and played 17 games during the 2015-16 season before being cut. Wood then joined Philadelphia's NBAGL affiliate, the Delaware 87ers (now the less awesomely-named Delaware Blue Coats), before being brought back up to Philadelphia in March on first a 10-day deal, followed by a rest-of-year agreement. He suited up for the Charlotte Hornets in 2016-17, but often logged time with Charlotte's G League squad, the Greensboro Swarm. Wood failed to gain much NBA traction that summer, and spent 2017-18 with the Delaware 87ers.

He split 2018-19 between the Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans. Following a very promising eight games with New Orleans (he averaged 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds), Wood joined the lowly Detroit Pistons. He finished fourth in Sixth Man of the Year voting and eighth in Most Improved Player voting, averaging 13.1 points on .567/.386/.744 shooting splits, 6.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.9 blocks across 62 games (12 starts).

In the 2020 offseason, Wood inked a three-season, $41 million deal to join the Houston Rockets as part of a sign-and-trade. During his 2020-21 run with the Rockets, he averaged 21.0 points on .514/.374/.631 shooting splits, 9.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 blocks in his most prolific scoring year to date. For his efforts, he finished fourth in Most Improved Player voting. Wood was flipped to the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the 2022-23 season. During his lone season in Dallas, he finished ninth in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

Last year, Wood inked a veteran's minimum one-plus-one "prove it" deal, where he had the safety net of his player option had he failed to impress with Los Angeles. His lack of defensive acumen and his failing jumper saw him playing his fewest minutes since his 2018-19 season (17.4 minutes per). Wood averaged just 6.9 points on .466/.307/.702 shooting splits, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.7 blocks a game across just 50 contests, as he was arbitrarily shifted into and out of now-ex-head coach Darvin Ham's rotations.

Should he stay on the Lakers all season, he'll match his own record for the most time logged with any franchise thus far, a whopping two seasons.

Small forward Cam Reddish and center Jaxson Hayes also picked up their player options for 2024-25, presumably after receiving little interest elsewhere in free agency. Point guard D'Angelo Russell also picked up his $18.7 million option for next season.

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