What happened to Christian Wood? Closer look at NBA insider's latest update on Lakers forward's injury

Shortly after the 2023-24 regular season ended, Christian Wood decided to avoid free agency and accepted his player option with the LA Lakers. After being sidelined for a good portion of last season, recent developments suggest he might not be ready for the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

On Monday afternoon, NBA insider Shams Charania detailed the latest regarding the Lakers forward. He reported that Wood had surgery on his left knee and is set to be re-evaluated in roughly two months.

This is a tough blow for Christian Wood and the Lakers as training camp is set to start on Oct. 1. The veteran forward was likely going to compete for a chance to start alongside Anthony Davis in JJ Redick's rotation.

When healthy, Wood has shown the potential of being an athletic and versatile player at the NBA level. However, he's struggled with availability for the majority of his career. The most games he's played in one season was 68 back in the 2021-22 campaign with the Houston Rockets.

Last season, Wood appeared in just 50 games for the Lakers. He averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 17.4 minutes.

With Wood expected to miss at least the next eight weeks, the Lakers find themselves thin at the power forward/center spot. Aside from Davis playing at the five, Jaxson Hayes is their other option.

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Christian Wood was gearing up to silence critics with LA Lakers

Before signing with the LA Lakers, Christian Wood was putting up near All-Star-level numbers for his previous teams. Before his latest injury, the veteran big man was poised to silence his critics this coming season.

On Aug. 25, Wood made a statement for the basketball world on his Instagram story. He claimed that he was back to his old form and was ready for a revenge season with the Lakers.

Christian Wood's previous stop before signing with the Lakers was with the Dallas Mavericks in the 2022-23 season. He thrived in his role as the team's sixth man and averaged 16.6 points (37.6% from beyond the arc) and 7.3 rebounds. However, numerous injuries have impacted Wood's ability to have similar success with the Lakers.

On his current injury timeline, Wood still has a chance to silence his doubters. If his re-evaluation goes well, he could end up only missing the first few weeks of the season. He would need to hit the ground running upon returning, but the opportunity will be there to play in a respectable amount of games.

With the Lakers not making sizable upgrades this offseason, players like Wood will need to have bounce-back years if they want to be competitive.