Christian Wood is feeling emboldened now that he has finally landed a new NBA contract.
The veteran big man Wood agreed to a multiyear contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, over two months into NBA free agency. The Lakers now become the eighth team of Wood’s eight-year professional career.
Wood made a statement on Wednesday to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about his new team and also got in a swipe at his old team, the Dallas Mavericks, at the very end.
“I’ve always wanted to be a Laker,” said Wood. “I know we can win a championship. Communication with a coach is a big key. [Lakers] Coach [Darvin] Ham and I go back to our Milwaukee [Bucks] days, and we’ve had great conversations everyday about this opportunity. He believes in me and told me I’ll be playing a big role and knows what I can do.
“I’m looking forward to this and [for sure] motivated after what Dallas did,” Wood concluded.
Wood didn’t elaborate on what exactly it was that Dallas supposedly did to him. But we know that there rumors that the Mavericks might trade Wood at the February deadline after he openly expressed frustration with his playing time. His “communication with a coach” line could potentially be interpreted as a swipe at Dallas head coach Jason Kidd too.
The Lakers might need patience with Wood, who is an excellent scorer and rebounder but can really struggle with defense, sharing the ball and overall basketball IQ. But Wood sounds confident that Ham, his assistant coach in Milwaukee in 2018-19, will be the one to finally unlock him.
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