Lakers to Sign Christian Wood? Can Mavs Trade?

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly interested in signing Christian Wood. The Dallas Mavericks have no plans to bring the big man back, but perhaps they could work out a sign-and-trade of some sort.

As we enter the 10th full day of NBA free agency, the Dallas Mavericks have pulled off a handful of move to retool their roster after missing the postseason, including re-signing Kyrie Irving, trading for Grant Williams and adding two first-round NBA Draft talents in Dereck Lively II and O-Max Prosper.

During his first Summer League game, Lively showed flashes of why the Mavs see him as their center of the future, but they’d still like to add more veteran frontcourt depth for insurance before the offseason is over. Despite having an in-house free agent that fits that mold, the Mavs don’t have Christian Wood in their plans going forward … but one Western Conference rival might.

According to The Athletic, the Los Angeles Lakers could be Wood’s next team. “Centers Christian Wood and Bismack Biyombo are in consideration for that 14th roster spot, according to team sources not authorized to speak publicly on the matter,” Jovan Buha writes.

The Mavs’ one-and-done big man averaged 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from deep in 67 games. In 17 games as a starter, Wood’s numbers increased to 20.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, but his net rating was -3.0 in those games compared to an -0.4 net rating in 50 games coming off the bench.

For whatever reasons — one of them likely being a lack of consistent defensive effort — Mavs head coach Jason Kidd wasn’t able to make it work with Wood, as his role and minutes fluctuated throughout the season. Wood had some big games with the Mavs, especially against the Lakers, but the two sides obviously have different ideas about what his best role is.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Wood has only received interest from other teams offering veteran-minimum contracts so far, which could be a sign that the Mavs haven’t been off-base with their stance on Wood.

If Wood does chose the Lakers, could the Mavs potentially benefit from a sign-and-trade? That might depend on what price Wood and the Lakers end up agreeing on. For example, if Wood signs for slightly above the veteran’s minimum, perhaps the Mavs could receive Jarred Vanderbilt, who is on a $4.6 million expiring contract. Or, if anything, Dallas could have a TPE (Traded Player Exception) created from doing a sign-and-trade with no players coming back.

One thing to note here is that the Lakers would have to sign Wood to at least a three-year deal for a sign-and-trade to work, and that might not be likely given his current market value. But we’ve certainly seen crazier things happen in the NBA before, so who knows?

Despite his flaws, Wood still possesses a lot of talent that could benefit LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the rest of the Lakers next season. Hopefully Wood’s departure won’t come back to bite the Mavs next season. The big man has yet to make the postseason throughout his seven-year career.

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