Lakers big man undergoes knee surgery; what's next

Even during the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers are getting bitten by the injury bug.

The Lakers announced Monday that big man Christian Wood has undergone surgery this week on his left knee. Wood will be re-evaluated by doctors in approximately eight weeks, the team added.

The 28-year-old Wood, a 21.0 point-per-game scorer for the Houston Rockets in 2020-21, signed with the Lakers as a free agent last summer. While he did well on a per-minute basis off the bench (6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes), Wood missed the final two months of the regular season as well as the Lakers’ playoff run due to an issue in that same left knee.

It appears the knee problem has lingered for Wood, who has now undergone a procedure to hopefully get it addressed once and for all. But the eight-week timeline means that Wood will likely miss the first couple of weeks of the new NBA season, which begins on Oct. 22, and possibly more. Wood recently picked up his $3 million player option with the Lakers for 2024-25, and though he was probably happy about the team’s recent coaching change, he will have to start off next season in street clothes.