Signing Christian Wood played perfectly into the Lakers’ hands and more importantly, meant that the franchise kept their promise to one of their biggest stars – Anthony Davis.
Davis played 99 percent of his minutes at center last season but this is not something he wanted to continue doing, NBA insider Dave McMenamin explained.
“Wood tweeted that it had “always been my dream” to play for the Lakers,” McMenamin wrote. “It turns out his dream coincides with the desires of L.A.’s most important player: Anthony Davis.
“Sources told ESPN that Davis made it clear to the organization he wanted to have more support at center so he wouldn’t have to play so much 5 during the regular season.”
As well as signing Wood to a vet minimum two-year deal, the Lakers also added NOLA’s Jaxson Hayes to the mix, which creates more opportunities for AD to play at his preferred power forward position.
Clearly, the Lakers love Davis in any position he plays on the court, since his time at center last season earned him a a three-year, $186 million extension this offseason – despite his rocky injury history.
The purple and gold recruited well this offseason after signing newcomers Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish.
But many Lakers fans would agree with McMenamin when he says that the most important moves LA made were the ones to retain last year’s success stories.
“In addition to extending Davis, they re-signed the young trio of Austin Reaves (four years, $56 million), D’Angelo Russell (two years, $37 million) and Rui Hachimura (three years, $51 million),” McMenamin said. “That core helped L.A. go 18-6 through the end of the regular season, play-in tournament and first two rounds of the playoffs. Add a healthy and rejuvenated LeBron James for his 21st season, and there are plenty of reasons for optimism in Lakerland.”