Now A Los Angeles Laker

Christian Wood is a free agent no longer.

After two months of sitting around in the free agency pool, forward/center Christian Wood has signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers worth $5.7 million total.

In that contract is a player option for Year 2, which underlines what most anticipated Wood doing: He's betting on himself this season, hoping to fetch a better deal next summer.

And why not? Wood, after all, was the second-best player on the Dallas Mavericks before their acquisition of Kyrie Irving. The 27-year-old averaged 16.6 points, and 7.3 rebounds, in just 25.9 minutes of playing time.

While Dallas made no attempts to re-sign him, context is crucial. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd is known to put enormous emphasis on defense, which isn't necessarily a strong mark of Wood, which often left the big man in the untenable situation of receiving inconsistent minutes, despite consistent production both offensively and on the glass.

Kidd's decision of yanking Wood in and out of the rotation came at an inopportune time, as Wood - during his stay in Houston - had developed a reputation as being difficult, and wished to spend the year in Dallas proving himself to be otherwise.

Apparently - and somewhat surprisingly - NBA teams seemed to determine that the one-two punch of Wood's tenure in Houston, as well as his brief stay in Dallas, wasn't up to par for their expectations.

For what it's worth, Wood has a history of being one of the better per-minute producers in the NBA, while also being one of the most versatile scoring big men in the league.

At 6'10, Wood has proven himself capable of finishing plays near the rim (75.5% accuracy over the past four seasons), while also being a reliable long-range shooter, having canned 38.2% of his three-point attempts over that same span, averaging four attempts per game.

Defensively, there are legitimate concerns, and Wood does have a tendency of misreading plays. In the past, he has also checked out of games if he hasn't hit the ground running, and even coasted off talent.

As such, it's entirely fair that he wasn't first in line when Free Agency opened on July 1.

Two months, however, was longer than expected. Perhaps sitting through an uncertain future for that long will force the veteran to buy into team defense a bit more, especially as he's hoping to return to the compensation level he had in Houston - $41 million over three years - which he signed in 2020.

Now with the Lakers, a team that just sharpened their odds of making a Finals run, Wood has his chance. It's a smart arrangement by both sides. If Wood performs, which he has a history of, and the Lakers flourish, teams should be far more willing to consider him next summer.

Additionally, putting Wood on a team with LeBron James should help the big man streamline his game. While nearing 40, James remains an elite playmaker, and he's spent a career maximizing both effort and production from teammates. James has always had an appreciation for players with a high level of skill, and Wood qualifies for that description.

For the Lakers, the signing of Wood - however brief his stay - caps a ridiculously strong offseason where the team made huge strides. Not only did they keep Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura, but they added Taurean Prince, Gabe Vincent, and took a flier on Cam Reddish.

Assuming both James and Anthony Davis stay healthy, and play in 60-65 games, these Lakers should have championship upside.

There's also the possibility of the Lakers hanging onto Wood under the Bobby Portis format.

Essentially, if Wood experiences next summer that his market remains inconsistent, he could simply opt out, and sign a new two-year deal with a player option for 2025-2026. He could then decline that option in 2025, after two years with the franchise, and receive a long-term contract more suitable to his production value.

That's long-term thinking, though, and not currently on the agenda. For now, the veteran finally found a new home, and the Lakers got even better.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via SpotracFanDuel Sportsbook.