Top Lakers free-agent target eyeing contract with Heat
Despite endless rumors connecting Christian Wood to the Los Angeles Lakers, the former Dallas Mavericks big man could be heading out East.
Joining the Lakers Nation Podcast , The Athletic's Jovan Buha stated that Wood is "interested in a potential role" with the defending Eastern Conference champions, the Miami Heat.
As Buha notes, Wood joining the Heat is likely contingent on what frontcourt players are involved in a potential trade for Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard.
HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reported last month that the Blazers are expected to shop center Jusuf Nurkic in trade packages centered around Lillard. If Nurkic and the $54.3M remaining on his contract head to South Beach, a Wood signing becomes highly improbable. However, if Nurkic is not part of the deal, Wood would pose as a viable fallback option to compete for minutes in Miami's frontcourt – especially if the team parts with Nikola Jović in a Lillard trade.
Veteran Kevin Love, who averaged 6.9 points in 20 playoff games this past season, is currently penciled in as the Heat's starting power forward while Thomas Bryant, who the team inked to a two-year, $5.4 million contract in July, is expected to serve as Bam Adebayo's primary backup at center.
As for Wood, the once-undrafted free agent has proven himself as an above-average scoring option over his career, averaging 18.5 ppg since the start of the 2020-21 season.
His shortcomings defensively and rumored character concerns have led to Wood bouncing around the league, now seeking to join his eighth team in as many years. Nonetheless, the Heat are already sound defensively, posting a top-10 defensive rating last season (112.8). It's on the offensive end that they could use a boost. In 2022-23, Miami finished dead-last in scoring offense, averaging 109.5 ppg.
Adding a combination of Lillard and Wood to their lineup would surely increase Miami's scoring output moving forward.
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