Lakers sign center Alex Len, waive Christian Wood

The Lakers took a step toward filling their hole at center as they signed free agent big man Alex Len.

In search of any solutions at the center position, the Lakers will reportedly sign big man Alex Len, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

Len, who was traded to the Wizards as part of a three-team deal before the deadline before being waived by Washington, cleared waivers on Tuesday.

To make room on the roster to sign Len, the Lakers are reportedly waiving Christian Wood, who has not been active for a single game this season.

The Lakers made the move official shortly thereafter.

Earlier in the day on Tuesday, longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein reported that the Lakers were one of the prominent teams interested in Len.

Len has spent 12 years in the league, the last four of those in Sacramento. However, his minutes heavily dwindled in recent seasons.

This year, he featured in 36 games but averaged 7.2 minutes per contest. He’s also only scoring 1.4 points and grabbing 1.8 rebounds per game as well. Listed at 7’0”, 250 pounds, he’s also a different type of center than the Lakers have in Jaxson Hayes.

The rescinded Mark Williams trade left the Lakers in an unenviable spot when it comes to the center position. With the trade deadline having passed, attention has to shift to the free agent and buyout market where there are no clear and obvious solutions.

The nature of the buyout market is flawed players looking for potentially better fits. The Lakers are in a spot where they can’t be picky about who they are signing with so few choices available.

Len is a very flawed player and it’s hard to imagine him being any sort of a difference-maker in any meaningful game this season. But he can be an active body available on a nightly basis, which is more than can be said of someone like Christian Wood, so in that sense, he is an upgrade.

Wood never featured in a game this season. After undergoing surgery in the offseason for a second time in the same year, he suffered a setback in November and no update was given on him again.

Even if he was healthy, he made less sense on a Lakers roster without Anthony Davis as the Lakers needed a rim-protecting big, not a floor spacer. Regardless, his tenure in Los Angeles comes to an unceremonious end.

After the move, the Lakers still have room to waive one more player and sign one more free agent or buyout target. Our own Bryan Toporek broke down where the Lakers stand in regards to the salary cap after the trade deadline on Tuesday.

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