Los Angeles Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka has a tall task to accomplish this NBA season: build a contender around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Having two superstars on a roster should make competing for a title nearly a given, but the Lakers were a perfect case study last season on how poor team fit can completely derail a roster.

In the summer of 2021, the Lakers opted to trade all of their depth to land another superstar in Russell Westbrook. Initial reactions were mixed as a portion of pundits were concerned about Los Angeles’s lack of remaining role players and the offensive fit between three players who operate best in the paint in LeBron, AD, and Russ.

Those critics turned out to be right as the Lakers struggled mightily with injuries and chemistry when they were on the floor together, ultimately missing out on the postseason entirely despite the added benefit of the Play-In Tournament.

Now, Pelinka has to find a way to retool around LeBron with few assets in hand to maneuver the offseason. Aside from trading perhaps Anthony Davis for a collection of high-end role players, the only options that the Lakers have is to either buy low on some damaged goods or try to mine gems for veteran minimum contracts.

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Considering the fact that just about every single player they signed to a vet min last season hugely underwhelmed, the Lakers might be best off taking a gamble on some controversial players such as Christian Wood.

Although obviously talented, Wood has had difficulty establishing himself as a top-tier player and has more often clashed with his coaches than impressed them. Perhaps a new situation in which he’s playing with arguably the greatest basketball player of all time will help him to focus.

Let’s look at what an NBA trade scenario could look like sending Christian Wood from the Houston Rockets to the Los Angeles Lakers.