Which Big?: update Christian Wood signs

[Ballerhogger]

I’d try wood out . None of these guys maybe TT

[elchengue20]

Wood for the minimum its worth a shot for sure.

Playing next to Lebron who has a history of making dumb guys functional and to AD who's a top 3 Defensive player, its the perfect scenario for him to shine.

It could end up being a steal, if not just cut him and move on.

Gabriel or TT is not bad for a 14/15 man also.

[hoosierdaddy34]

So this article citing Jovan Buha echos what I’ve been saying. AD is likely to be the starting center and see the lion share of minutes at the 5.

Wood leaning towards Miami because he’s been promised a bigger role than the Lakers are willing to offer him.

So all that bluster about a Pelinka comment about playing bigger that a bunch of people quoted and we are back at common sense, AD will be the starting center on the 23-24 Lakers.

https://lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-christian-wood-may-prefer-bigger-role-with-heat-over-l-a/

[Beethoven]

Let's give timofey mozgov 16 million to come back do it mitch

[Godfather13]

Let's give timofey mozgov 16 million to come back do it mitch

[Godfather13]

So this article citing Jovan Buha echos what I’ve been saying. AD is likely to be the starting center and see the lion share of minutes at the 5.

Wood leaning towards Miami because he’s been promised a bigger role than the Lakers are willing to offer him.

So all that bluster about a Pelinka comment about playing bigger that a bunch of people quoted and we are back at common sense, AD will be the starting center on the 23-24 Lakers.

https://lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-christian-wood-may-prefer-bigger-role-with-heat-over-l-a/

The 'bigger role' talk feel kinda puzzling considering their depth(Bam, Love, Bryant) at the position & Spo's clear intolerance for poor defenders in the playoffs - Herro & Duncan were seeing <10 mins combined in the 2021-22 playoffs when both were healthy.

His best shot at minutes has to be the Lakers considering he will get a decent shot at starting about 45-50 games when either Lebron or AD are injured. Not to mention the national media focus in Tinseltown, next to LeBron & perhaps bag a bigger deal next year like Monk, Dennis or Rui.

[hoosierdaddy34]

So this article citing Jovan Buha echos what I’ve been saying. AD is likely to be the starting center and see the lion share of minutes at the 5.

Wood leaning towards Miami because he’s been promised a bigger role than the Lakers are willing to offer him.

So all that bluster about a Pelinka comment about playing bigger that a bunch of people quoted and we are back at common sense, AD will be the starting center on the 23-24 Lakers.

https://lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-christian-wood-may-prefer-bigger-role-with-heat-over-l-a/

The 'bigger role' talk feel kinda puzzling considering their depth(Bam, Love, Bryant) at the position & Spo's clear intolerance for poor defenders in the playoffs - Herro & Duncan were seeing <10 mins combined in the 2021-22 playoffs when both were healthy.

His best shot at minutes has to be the Lakers considering he will get a decent shot at starting about 45-50 games when either Lebron or AD are injured. Not to mention the national media focus in Tinseltown, next to LeBron & perhaps bag a bigger deal next year like Monk, Dennis or Rui.

See I don’t think he has a shot of starting near that many games. I think AD will start every game he plays at center. LeBron and Rui will make up the front line. I think that is pretty much etched in stone at this point. Wood would be competing with Vanderbilt and Hayes for backup big minutes with Vando having the clear leg up on the other two as first big off the bench. So yeah I could very easily see a scenario that Woods is getting one shift a game unless he just came in and blew the doors off the place, defended like he’s never defended before.

So what does “bigger role” mean? Miami promised him two shifts a game? 15 - 20 minutes PT? Starting 4? Hard to say but I think this report is far more indicative of how little a role the Lakers offering than how big a role Miami is. Because you are right they have some bigs too. Although Love is 37 and Bryant sat for 4 months in Denve and LA has younger guys that are good enough to play and need minutes.

[Godfather13]

So this article citing Jovan Buha echos what I’ve been saying. AD is likely to be the starting center and see the lion share of minutes at the 5.

Wood leaning towards Miami because he’s been promised a bigger role than the Lakers are willing to offer him.

So all that bluster about a Pelinka comment about playing bigger that a bunch of people quoted and we are back at common sense, AD will be the starting center on the 23-24 Lakers.

https://lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-christian-wood-may-prefer-bigger-role-with-heat-over-l-a/

The 'bigger role' talk feel kinda puzzling considering their depth(Bam, Love, Bryant) at the position & Spo's clear intolerance for poor defenders in the playoffs - Herro & Duncan were seeing <10 mins combined in the 2021-22 playoffs when both were healthy.

His best shot at minutes has to be the Lakers considering he will get a decent shot at starting about 45-50 games when either Lebron or AD are injured. Not to mention the national media focus in Tinseltown, next to LeBron & perhaps bag a bigger deal next year like Monk, Dennis or Rui.

See I don’t think he has a shot of starting near that many games. I think AD will start every game he plays at center. LeBron and Rui will make up the front line. I think that is pretty much etched in stone at this point. Wood would be competing with Vanderbilt and Hayes for backup big minutes with Vando having the clear leg up on the other two as first big off the bench. So yeah I could very easily see a scenario that Woods is getting one shift a game unless he just came in and blew the doors off the place, defended like he’s never defended before.

So what does “bigger role” mean? Miami promised him two shifts a game? 15 - 20 minutes PT? Starting 4? Hard to say but I think this report is far more indicative of how little a role the Lakers offering than how big a role Miami is. Because you are right they have some bigs too. Although Love is 37 and Bryant sat for 4 months in Denve and LA has younger guys that are good enough to play and need minutes.

Um.. I kinda pencil him in as the starter for all games AD doesn't start(avg 38 games for last 3 seasons) & probably at least half the games Bron doesn't start(avg 31) to get to the 45-50 number.

As for replacements you mention -
Vando - Vando is severely restricted to guarding 1-3(that is when the 3s are not too strong), so I don't see the overlap at all.
Hayes - I rate him as a lesser effort/IQ version Wenyen, who also can't shoot. We'll be in trouble if he's seeing more than 3-5 mpg after the first couple of months after Ham's had a real look at him. 99% sure to be a trade chip by December 15th.

The competition I really see is with Rui @ 4 in times when AD/Bron are injured OR Biyombo if we sign him too, which is hard to imagine unless we're trading out Vando & AD's gonna repeat 2020-21 and play less than 10% minutes at the 5.

Other than that, I can see Wood being extremely complimentary to Bron/AD in bench line ups cos of the spacing, and Lebron not having to play as many minutes as the 5 as last season.

[Danny Darko]

Javale should be incoming

[stan francisco]

From the wiretap:

“The Sacramento Kings have six centers currently under contract in Domantas Sabonis, Javale McGee, Alex Len, Nerlens Noel, Neemias Queta and Skal Labissiere.

McGee recently signed a one-year guaranteed contract at the veteran's minimum. Sabonis and Len are also on guaranteed contracts.

The Kings plan on assigning Labissiere to the G League, which leaves McGee, Len, Noel and Queta to compete for two roster spots. Len is also on a fully guaranteed one-year deal at the minimum. Noel's deal includes $300,000 in guaranteed money, which increases to $600,000 if he makes the opening night roster.

The Kings re-signed Queta on a two-year, $4.2 million contract, but the deal includes only $250,000 in guaranteed money in the first year with no guarantee in the second year. “

I’d be happy with either one who falls off that bus. Noël, please don’t make the Kings roster! We have PT for you here!

I think this is partially why we’re waiting.

Edit: Queta package in trade for D Lo on Dec 15 would be nice.

[TylersLakers]

Lakers sign Christian Wood.

[TylersLakers]

On a side note- I'd consider starting him.

Reaves/Vanderbilt/LeBron/Wood/AD

Reaves and LeBron playmakers
Vando handles the toughest wing assignment so LeBron can chill
Wood spacing

Rui, Vincent, D-Lo, Prince off the bench.

[MAMBAEMD]

They got him on a good deal.
2 yrs, $5.7 million, 2nd yr is a player option.

I'd actually bring him off the bench. I'd start Hayes over him to establish a defensive identity and presence from the start.
The second unit will need scorers and he can come off the bench.
I don't want him jacking up 3's with AD and LBJ on the floor.

[Godfather13]

They got him on a good deal.
2 yrs, $5.7 million, 2nd yr is a player option.

I'd actually bring him off the bench. I'd start Hayes over him to establish a defensive identity and presence from the start.
The second unit will need scorers and he can come off the bench.
I don't want him jacking up 3's with AD and LBJ on the floor.

Yeah, I don't like the thought of him getting exposed against the starting 5 for other teams, specially given the level of defense Lebron & AD will play in regular season.

I like him foiling AD/Lebron in the bench minutes + getting some minutes with Gabe, Max, Vando & Rui bench line ups. I'll be happy keeping him between 20-28 mins off the bench, unless AD is injured.

No more Lebron @ Center minutes for non-existent spacing ever again please!

[ROballer]

On a side note- I'd consider starting him.

Reaves/Vanderbilt/LeBron/Wood/AD

Reaves and LeBron playmakers
Vando handles the toughest wing assignment so LeBron can chill
Wood spacing

Rui, Vincent, D-Lo, Prince off the bench.

Lol, in your f dreams.

Listen, for the millionth time. Anthony Davis is a C until the day he dies. Playing him at different positions has absolutely nothing even remotely to do with sparing his body, since he'll still injure himself even sitting on the bench.

Wood was a cancer everywhere he went, a perennial career loser who ended up in the lottery every single season in his career.
And spare me the whataboutism about the talent on his team. He went to WCF year before bound Dallas last year and somehow managed to finish in the lottery again.

He's a limited role player, who will fight for the right to stay in the NBA judging from his contract, and will be a DNP to 15 mins a game guy, fighting with Hayes for the right to backup Davis. That's it.

The only time he will see more than that is during the mandatory 20 games off Davis will have at some point. Think Thomas Bryant of last year, battling with Wenyen Gabriel.
This year is Hayes vs Wood. Same story, different players.

[Godfather13]

Listen, for the millionth time. Anthony Davis is a C until the day he dies. Playing him at different positions has absolutely nothing even remotely to do with sparing his body, since he'll still injure himself even sitting on the bench.

True. There's no evidence to support any relationship between his injury history & PF/C positions

Wood was a cancer everywhere he went, a perennial career loser who ended up in the lottery every single season in his career.
And spare me the whataboutism about the talent on his team. He went to WCF year before bound Dallas last year and somehow managed to finish in the lottery again.

He's a limited role player, who will fight for the right to stay in the NBA judging from his contract, and will be a DNP to 15 mins a game guy, fighting with Hayes for the right to backup Davis. That's it.

The only time he will see more than that is during the mandatory 20 games off Davis will have at some point. Think Thomas Bryant of last year, battling with Wenyen Gabriel.
This year is Hayes vs Wood. Same story, different players.

Also true. Kam Bros did a scouting report on on him a couple of month ago, where they brought on the Locked On Mavs guy.

Watch on YouTube

7:15 - Horrendously lost on defensive rotations, despite the athleticism & physical ability. Never took the time to learn the Mavs playbook throughout the year.

8:40 - 12:30 - His crew & he think he's the star on the team, that sometimes even supersedes Luka on the team. His agent actually pestered the ASG voters to vote him in. They thought that Mavs were deliberately holding him back to keep his 2023-24 contract to a manageable level. Pure comedy honestly

17:10 - Mavs & Kidd a poor fit for Wood's skillset. They needed him to be a rotating switching big, which he is clearly not. Should fit better in to Ham's drop system

And this quote also exists

"If LeBron can get him to toe the line, it cements LeBron as the greatest player of all time," the NBA source said, per Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. "That's how hard it is."

From other pods/articles I've seen, most of his problem lies with the delusional perception of himself in the hierarchy of things - complaining/whining about his minutes/role/touches, etc.



Despite all of it, I'm fairly positive about the signing cos -
- Ham & Lebron have shown to be excellent leaders in terms of getting buy in / commitment from their teams throughout their careers
- Ham is a drop merchant, which is considerably simpler than Kidd's hybrid switch/hedge/show-recover defense, which should be easier to grasp for Wood
- Parallel trajectory to Schroeder & Monk in terms of fall from grace(15-20 mil potential) to Vet Minimum with barely any takers should serve as a humbling/self evaluation moment. Atp, he's gotta have heard the notion the league has about his attitude and how it's not serving him well
- This dude is a legit hyper efficient, spacing big who simply produces 18-10 in 25-30 minutes. The risk v. reward ratio is just bonkers to look down on this deal. We can simply cut him at the deadline, if he's nuisance & go back to backing AD up with some other incompetent bigs that don't deserve to be in the NBA, like we've done the last 2 years
- Wood's complementary PF/Cs the last 4 years were terrible defensive liabilities themselves

Read on Twitter

While AD will help paper over a lot of his defensive flaws, I figure he will be a great complimentary piece to our elite rim finishers like AD, Lebron, Reaves, Cam & Prince in terms of spacing. Not to mention the help in rebounding, which was a key area of need last season
- Last but definitely not the least - No more Lebron @ Center minutes ffs

This signing has given us a massive boost in terms of NBA level depth at every position, which hasn't been the case last two years.

PG - Gabe, DLo
SG - AR, Max
SF - Prince, Cam, Vando
PF - Lebron, Rui
C - AD, Wood, Hayes

*did not include rooks on purpose

[LAKESHOW]

Championship

[TylersLakers]

On a side note- I'd consider starting him.

Reaves/Vanderbilt/LeBron/Wood/AD

Reaves and LeBron playmakers
Vando handles the toughest wing assignment so LeBron can chill
Wood spacing

Rui, Vincent, D-Lo, Prince off the bench.

Lol, in your f dreams.

Listen, for the millionth time. Anthony Davis is a C until the day he dies. Playing him at different positions has absolutely nothing even remotely to do with sparing his body, since he'll still injure himself even sitting on the bench.

Wood was a cancer everywhere he went, a perennial career loser who ended up in the lottery every single season in his career.
And spare me the whataboutism about the talent on his team. He went to WCF year before bound Dallas last year and somehow managed to finish in the lottery again.

He's a limited role player, who will fight for the right to stay in the NBA judging from his contract, and will be a DNP to 15 mins a game guy, fighting with Hayes for the right to backup Davis. That's it.

The only time he will see more than that is during the mandatory 20 games off Davis will have at some point. Think Thomas Bryant of last year, battling with Wenyen Gabriel.
This year is Hayes vs Wood. Same story, different players.

I'm not concerned about the PF vs C argument - to me it means nothing. It's more so the fit around LeBron/AD/Reaves. Around those 3 guys I want the following: Shooting, Defense, Size and athleticism.

That roster checks off the most in my opinion. And it's based on the following presumptions:

LeBron can't handle primary wing assignments defensively anymore, which means you have to have a wing defender. That to me makes Vanderbilt basically a lock to start.

My other assumption: Reaves is a point guard. He needs to be the primary ball handler on this team throughout the course of the season. LeBron will have a lions share of that as well, but Reaves should be our initiator.

With the last spot - I want shooting.

So here's my guys that NEED to play: LeBron, AD, Reaves, Vando, Russell, Vincent, Prince, Rui.

Here's other line-up that I think fits:

Vincent/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD - Vincent is a really solid defender and can shoot it off-ball. Reaves can essentially be the point. Vando is a wing defender. LeBron chills on a non-shooter. AD is the roll man, main offensive option.

[tamaraw08]

On a side note- I'd consider starting him.

Reaves/Vanderbilt/LeBron/Wood/AD

Reaves and LeBron playmakers
Vando handles the toughest wing assignment so LeBron can chill
Wood spacing

Rui, Vincent, D-Lo, Prince off the bench.

Lol, in your f dreams.

Listen, for the millionth time. Anthony Davis is a C until the day he dies. Playing him at different positions has absolutely nothing even remotely to do with sparing his body, since he'll still injure himself even sitting on the bench.

Wood was a cancer everywhere he went, a perennial career loser who ended up in the lottery every single season in his career.
And spare me the whataboutism about the talent on his team. He went to WCF year before bound Dallas last year and somehow managed to finish in the lottery again.

He's a limited role player, who will fight for the right to stay in the NBA judging from his contract, and will be a DNP to 15 mins a game guy, fighting with Hayes for the right to backup Davis. That's it.

The only time he will see more than that is during the mandatory 20 games off Davis will have at some point. Think Thomas Bryant of last year, battling with Wenyen Gabriel.
This year is Hayes vs Wood. Same story, different players.

I'm not concerned about the PF vs C argument - to me it means nothing. It's more so the fit around LeBron/AD/Reaves. Around those 3 guys I want the following: Shooting, Defense, Size and athleticism.

That roster checks off the most in my opinion. And it's based on the following presumptions:

LeBron can't handle primary wing assignments defensively anymore, which means you have to have a wing defender. That to me makes Vanderbilt basically a lock to start.

My other assumption: Reaves is a point guard. He needs to be the primary ball handler on this team throughout the course of the season. LeBron will have a lions share of that as well, but Reaves should be our initiator.

With the last spot - I want shooting.

So here's my guys that NEED to play: LeBron, AD, Reaves, Vando, Russell, Vincent, Prince, Rui.

Here's other line-up that I think fits:

Vincent/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD - Vincent is a really solid defender and can shoot it off-ball. Reaves can essentially be the point. Vando is a wing defender. LeBron chills on a non-shooter. AD is the roll man, main offensive option.

No doubt Vando is their best flexible on-ball defender but if his defender dares him to shoot the 3 while clogging the middle, and he fails to hit them, then he will likely play limited minutes. Let us hope he is practicing hard working on his form. Max Christie was horrible in the SPL last year but improved significantly in the RS and if Vando, Vincent can somehow make like 38% of their 3's, then this team will be very hard to beat.

[Godfather13]

I'm not concerned about the PF vs C argument - to me it means nothing. It's more so the fit around LeBron/AD/Reaves. Around those 3 guys I want the following: Shooting, Defense, Size and athleticism.

That roster checks off the most in my opinion. And it's based on the following presumptions:

LeBron can't handle primary wing assignments defensively anymore, which means you have to have a wing defender. That to me makes Vanderbilt basically a lock to start.

Correct till the part about Lebron being unable to guard wings anymore part, but Vando isn't the answer. Vando is also severely limited to guarding only slow and skinny PG, SG & SFs. Aside from being a total liability on offense, he's ineffective if they're fast(Ja), know how to run PnR/use screens(Steph & Jamal) to find switches, or a wee bit stronger(Kawhi/Luka/Jimmy). If Vando was a center with great rim defense, it would be a different story. Such a limited perimeter defender who can't even shoot, isn't worth even a serious conversation.

The correct answer(and Ham might need 30 games to arrive at this is Prince & Rui. Reasonably good defense, while not being a total vampire on our rim scoring, by allowing opponents to just pack 2 extra guys in the paint, as AD & Vando absolutely can't shoot.

My other assumption: Reaves is a point guard. He needs to be the primary ball handler on this team throughout the course of the season. LeBron will have a lions share of that as well, but Reaves should be our initiator.

This could work if Reaves has improved his ball handling enough since the playoffs. All of last year, Reaves would come undone if the opposition perimeter defenders attacked his dribble up close. This was specially evident in the GSW & Nuggets series when they threw the kitchen sink at DLo and Reaves. He would become turnover prone > ineffective as a playmaker. Just an overall mess.

Reaves & Max are awesome, but we need to tread carefully with our expectations of 1/2 year guys.

Gabe and Dlo are pretty good as primary creators for now, allowing Reaves & Lebron to participate in segments, as was the case in the playoffs.

With the last spot - I want shooting.

So here's my guys that NEED to play: LeBron, AD, Reaves, Vando, Russell, Vincent, Prince, Rui.

Here's other line-up that I think fits:

Vincent/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD - Vincent is a really solid defender and can shoot it off-ball. Reaves can essentially be the point. Vando is a wing defender. LeBron chills on a non-shooter. AD is the roll man, main offensive option.

5 of those 8 names you dropped shot well below league average last season. That makes for a terrible spacing line up offensively. And the defense isn't specially potent either, knowing what AD & Lebron's levels stoop to during regular season.

-Vando & AD are beyond any hope of coming around
-Gabe was sensational in the playoffs, but Rui(playoffs) benefitted big time from teams picking him as the guy they could leave alone at the perimeter to counter predator mode AD at the rim. Hopefully the playoffs serve as a launchpad for a vast improvement in shooting for both of them.
-Lebron has had such years before, but usually bounces back to his 36-37%