The Los Angeles Lakers announced that forward/center Christian Wood underwent a successful arthroscopic surgical procedure on his left knee on Monday. The procedure was performed by Dr. Kristofer J. Jones at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Wood will be re-evaluated by team doctors in approximately eight weeks.
This is the same knee that Wood injured in the second half of last season that forced him to miss a handful of games, including the playoffs. He underwent arthroscopic surgery in March and the hope was that he would be ready for the start of this season.
That is obviously not the case as Wood is now in danger of missing Opening Night on Oct. 22 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and perhaps a few games beyond that. It’s unclear if he suffered some sort of setback while training or if he was just not progressing as well as he had hoped and needed another surgery.
Either way, it’s not ideal for the Lakers, who are relying on health for improvements this season after not making any roster changes over the summer. Jarred Vanderbilt also may not be ready for the start of the season as he continues to recover from a foot injury.
Wood was viewed as a nice addition for L.A. late last offseason. He had a number of suitors in free agency, which is why the Lakers gave him a player option for 2024-25 to get him to pick them.
His first season with the Lakers didn’t go as well as anyone had hoped though as Wood’s statistics dropped drastically. After averaging 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in the season prior with the Dallas Mavericks, the 28-year-old averaged just 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 50 games for the Lakers.
Wood found himself in and out of the rotation for most of the season and then missed the end of it due to the injury.
The backup center position is arguably the biggest question mark for the Lakers going into the year, so if Wood is forced to miss time then that would be a big loss.
While Wood doesn’t have the ideal size for a center, his ability to space the floor and rebound makes him a nice complement to Anthony Davis in the frontcourt. While Wood is out though, Jaxson Hayes should see time at backup center.
Christian Wood vowed to stay healthy for Lakers in 2024-25
How much Christian Wood will be able to contribute for the Lakers will depend on his health. After ending last season with a knee injury, Wood vowed to stay healthy for L.A. this year, which obviously already is not going to happen.
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