The Los Angeles Lakers have a roster that is capable of winning the 2025 NBA Finals, but that’ll only happen if all of their core rotational pieces play at their absolute best, and Christian Wood is not exempt from that.
Lakers need Christian Wood to spearhead their second unit offense in 2024-25
Wood was brought on board to give the Lakers strong offensive output behind the oft-injured superstar talent Anthony Davis at the power forward slot. He had given the Dallas Mavericks 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in only 25.9 minutes per game in a 2022-23 season that saw him finish No. 9 in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
Yet, across 50 appearances in Los Angeles on the previous campaign, the 29-year-old sharply regressed to 6.9 points and 5.1 boards in 17.4 minutes of nightly action, while also seeing his field goal percentage dip from 51.5 percent with the Mavs to 46.6 percent with the Lakers.
Wood has the talent and skills to contend for the 2025 Sixth Man of the Year award
The California native did put up an encouraging 0.7 blocks a night, but the overall consensus was that he did not play up to his standard last time out. More importantly, he did not give the Lakers’ second unit the boost they needed. L.A. finished with the third-fewest bench points per contest last season with 28.4 PPG. Wood has the bag to put up that point total on his own with a full game’s workload on any given night, and half of that as Davis’ backup.
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The Lakers can win a lot of games and wage a Finals run with Wood on his A-game
Further, the Lakers went 9-6 in the 15 games where Wood scored in double figures during the previous campaign. He also shot over 50 percent from the floor in all but one of those games.
The Lakers will also be welcoming back Gabe Vincent into their fold after he missed 71 games in 2023-24 due to a knee injury. He and Wood will be expected to lead Los Angeles’ second unit on offense in the half-court. Vincent’s high basketball IQ and outside shooting capabilities, coupled with Wood’s ability to find his stroke in the midrange and finish at the rim in a variety of ways could be the ingredients for a fruitful pairing between the two in the pick-and-roll.
Wood has the chops to contend for the 6MOY award in 2024-25 and do several things that the franchise desperately needs. There have been talks about the Lakers seeking a center to play alongside Davis. Whether or not a marquee deal to address that need takes shape, Wood can be played behind the Kentucky product and alongside the defensive maven.
Thus, if Wood can give the Lakers double-figure scoring, and rebounds that flirt with north of seven a game while remaining consistent and keeping his efficiency from the field well above 50 percent, he can help their bench ensemble raise their unacceptable scoring average from last time out and give the starters the support they need to wage a title run.