Christian Wood agreed to a two-year contract to join the Lakers

The Lakers get another position for their rotation, and Christian Wood gets a chance to showcase himself on a big stage and then return to the free agent market next year if he so chooses.

After more than a month of rumors that the two parties were close to an agreement, Christian Wood has agreed to a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced the newswhich was confirmed by other correspondents, and Wood himself eventually removed any doubt.

That’s the veteran’s minimum contract — $2.7 million this season, the most the Lakers can offer — with a player option worth $3 million next year. While league sources have told NBC Sports that the Lakers offer has been on the table for a while, Wood has reportedly been waiting to see how the situation changes with the Miami Heat after a potential Damian Lillard deal (the Heat might have been able to) offer more money. ). In the end, Woods decided to take the sure offer before the Lakers turned to someone else.

Woods is one of the forwards who averaged 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game last season for the Mavericks. He also separates the floor from the five, shooting 37.6% from 3 last season. The fact that he put up those numbers but stayed out of Jason Kidd’s cycle in Dallas reflects concerns about his game – a lack of defense and a perception that he calculates his stats and doesn’t do the little things that help the team win. The Lakers, with a strong culture led by LeBron James and coach Darvin Hamm, plus the fact that Wood needs to adapt and play well if he is to get a bigger salary, has Los Angeles thinking things will be better than they were in Dallas.

Bottom line: Los Angeles just got the best position available on the market with a minimum contract – and that’s a good signing.

Anthony Davis is the Lakers’ best center – and one of the best in the league – and although he’ll lock out games at five, he doesn’t want to play there full time and take the beatings of the bigger centers in the league. The Lakers also signed Jackson Hayes to play center field, and Rui Hachimura can play some limited minutes as a small ball with five players. Wood will be given minutes in the mix to start this season, and the question is can he keep them?

This is another fine signing for the Lakers who had a solid off-season building on what worked and got them to the Conference Finals last season.