Lakers’ Christian Wood Makes $3 Million Contract Decision

The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs. They are entering an important offseason and the front office has to make a bunch of decisions. Players have to make decisions, too. Christian Wood has already made his and it’s related to his contract with the team.

The front office fired Darvin Ham although he took the team to the Western Conference Finals in his first season with the team. This year wasn’t that great and Ham was the first to go. Many players are expected to leave the franchise and create room for new names.

Michael Scotto from HoopsHype reported that Wood has picked up his player option for the 2024-25 NBA season. The Lakers offered a two-year deal worth $6 million to get him and he wasn’t in a position to negotiation his deal. Wood and the Dallas Mavericks didn’t split on friendly terms. Getting Wood seemed like a good decision for the Lakers as he looked like a natural fit for the franchise. Well, he didn’t meet expectations. Wood averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game with the Lakers. Rob Pelinka wanted more than that.

Lakers, Wood to make contract moves in the offseason

Wood’s contract with the Lakers could be added to any trade offer in the offseason. The 28-year-old didn’t make any impact this past season, so he will probably try his chances somewhere else. Dallas may not take him back as they let him go for his woes on the defensive end of the ball.

The Lakers offered Wood a full-time bench role. He didn’t get too much playing time and ended up undergoing an arthroscopic surgery to fix his knee. Wood is playing safe now and the Lakers have enough freedom to construct their offseason. The front office could be hunting for a third star. Kyrie Irving is one of their targets, so let’s see how this goes.