The Los Angeles Lakers have been operating with Anthony Davis and Jaxson Hayes as their only true centers on the roster, exacerbating the need for Christian Wood to return from injury. Wood underwent knee surgery before the beginning of training camp and initially was given an eight-week timeline for re-evaluation. Wood revealed that his knee had been feeling fine but woke up one day after rehab and experienced swellingm which prompted an MRI and eventually surgery.

It’s been a tough return to play process for Wood, who could really help the Lakers roster right now with his size and outside shooting, But unfortunately, he experienced another setback as he experienced soreness during his ramp-up period and is set to miss more time. “Christian was ramping up his return to play and he developed some soreness. We’re gonna scale it back and have an update in about four weeks,” head coach JJ Redick said after practice on Tuesday.

Redick expanded upon what Wood was able to do before suffering the setback. “I don’t known the exact point he was at in his return-to-play. I know that he was working on continued strengthening of his leg and the quad and all that.

I believe he had started to do a little light on-court work and developed some soreness,” Redick said. Injuries have plagued Los Angeles for years now and Wood’s setback now places even more urgency on the front office to try and find solutions for their thin front court. While Hayes has performed admirably as Davis’ backup, it’s clear at this point that the purple and gold could use another big man to shore up the team’s depth.

Wood picked up his player option for the 2024-25 season in hopes of playing a larger role under head coach JJ Redick, but now will have to wait at least a couple more months until making his debut this season. At that point, though, it’s hard to imagine him making much of an impact due to the time off and how long it’ll take for him to acclimate back to NBA-level basketball. Making matters worse is there’s been no update on Jarred Vanderbilt, who is still recovering from offseason surgeries to both his feet.

Wood and Vanderbilt have clear paths to minutes when they’re healthy, but the team might need to start considering making a deal sooner rather than later to bolster the Lakers’ chances. Lakers reportedly looking at Brook Lopez and Jonas Valanciunas as trade targetsWith Christian Wood now out for at least eight more weeks, the urgency to add another true center should be high for the front office. The Lakers have been linked to several names in the trade market, though recently it appears they have players like Brook Lopez and Jonas Valanciunas high on their list of targets.

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