Christian Wood: How he can bless the Los Angeles Lakers with a Big 3

LOS ANGELES (CC) - I predict that free agent Christian Wood will bless the Lakers with Big 3s. Not only a big 3 in Anthony Davis, LeBron James and himself, but by shooting and making a plethora of 3-point shots.

Wood is a 38% career 3-point shooter, with a dreamy jumper.

"It's always been my dream to be a Laker," he posted on social media in September.

The Lakers dreamed of a player of his caliber last season to help them get to the NBA Finals. Now they are living in the moment trying to dethrone defending NBA Finals champion Denver, who rudely woke the Lakers up from their dream season by beating them in last season's Western Conference Finals.

The Lakers depth of big players now goes woods-deep, including Christian: AD, Jaxson Hayes, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and LeBron, who people tend to forget is 6-9, 250-260 pounds.

Wood is a scrawny 6-9, 6-10 center, from UNLV, sent to compliment AD. They should work well together because Christian can shoot. In 67 games split between Houston and Dallas last season, he averaged 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, shot 51.5% from the field and 37.9% from 3-point range.

The 28-year-old is not just a spot-shooter. He shoots with dexterity, off the bounce, and can pound the pill in two beats to the cup.

After bouncing around the league with multiple teams, he soared with the Rockets, averaging 19.1, 9.9 and 2.1 assists in 109 games for them from 2020-2022.

He is more than capable of putting up superstar-caliber numbers on any given night.

He can run the floor, handle the rock in transition and plays with an emotional chip on his shoulder.

The Lakers may call on him to be a ball-handler, like Giannis, to complement LeBron, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent.

Seems logical that Wood and Vincent were signed to add some fire to the Lakers long-distance game, since AD has gone icy from the triple.

Davis can now bless the interior, rebound and score from the post without having to worry about shooting a career-best percentage for 3-pointers.

Vincent excelled in shooting 3s for the Miami Heat during the 2023 NBA Finals, playing against Denver, the team that is now L..A.'s arch rivals in the West.

Wood adds to the westward equation from fatherland range. Exactly the blessing the Lakers need to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2020.