Christian Wood is one of the most prominent names left on the free-agent market. Wood’s stats last year, 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, would typically lead to an offer in the opening days of free agency. But more than a month since free agency began, Wood remains on the market, with little more than minimum-contract offers available. However, according to Heavy’s Sean Deveney, Wood has options.
While Wood could accept veteran’s minimum offers (worth approximately $2.7M for a player with seven years of experience) from the Miami Heat or the Los Angeles Lakers, it would be significantly less than what he made last year: $14.3M. According to Deveney, Wood has hope that a higher offer than $2.7M will emerge but, at the very least, he has that minimum contract to fall back on if that doesn’t pan out.
“There is no reason for him to hurry, the roster spots are there and unless there is a chance the Lakers make a move to sign someone else, why not wait to see if something better becomes available?” a league executive told Heavy. “What if Miami makes the [Damian Lillard] trade and winds up with a little more [luxury-tax] space? They could make a better offer. Not a ton more, but it is not the minimum. That’s the wildcard for [Wood].”
Deveney reports that the Lakers are viewed around the league as the favorite to land Wood, but there are multiple routes for Miami to clear cap space in a potential Lillard move. If the Heat wind up sending out all of their trade-chip major salaries, Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro, they could create more space under the $182.5M second tax apron to sign Wood at a salary slightly above the minimum.
Even if not all of those pieces are moved, there are ways for the Heat to create space to sign Wood to a deal around $5M annually, according to Deveney. Deveney says that if a trade involving Herro, Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic occurs, the Heat could look to sign Wood to the aforementioned $5M.
Wood’s summer seems to have two potential endings, as of now, according to Deveney. If a Lillard trade occurs and the Heat wish to sign Wood, he’s likely Miami-bound. If a Lillard trade doesn’t happen or the Heat wish to fill out the roster with only minimum contracts, Wood would likely head to the Lakers.
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