The timing of Christian Wood’s recent arthroscopic knee surgery could not have been worse for him or the Lakers. With the procedure coming so late in the season, Wood is going to be up against the clock to get back on the court and don the purple and gold this season.
A recent report from Jovan Buha of The Athletic revealed as much and just how much of a time crunch there will be for Wood.
Wood is expected to miss the rest of the regular season; there’s a chance he’ll return for Play-In game(s) or the playoffs if the Lakers get there, according to team sources.
While Wood has been a bit hot and cold this season, he provided the Lakers depth and a different look at the center position. Without him, the Lakers have neither of those available to them.
Fortunately, Jaxson Hayes has played his best basketball over the last two months to alleviate some of those concerns. But he doesn’t provide the spacing that Wood could. And because of that, it’s not as simple to play Hayes and Anthony Davis together in comparison to Wood and AD.
The problem when he returns is going to be reintegrating him into the lineup, particularly if it does come in the postseason. Playoff rotations are fairly rigid and adding a new player to it will be difficult.
The Lakers will face this challenge with a host of players. Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent could return from injury, and the Lakers will have challenges bringing them into the rotation.
On one hand, having more players available isn’t a bad thing, especially when they can offer lineup variability. But at what point will the Lakers determine what they have is enough and what they’re going work with going into the postseason?
It’s not an easy decision and, for now, the Lakers likely are going to benefit from adding some players to the rotation even in this stretch run. But it’s far from an ideal situation they’ll go through in the coming weeks.
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