Lakers Rumors: Christian Wood Expected to Return from Injury vs. Nuggets in Game 3

Los Angeles Lakers big man Christian Wood is reportedly planning to return to the lineup ahead of Game 3's matchup against the Denver Nuggets.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Wood will be back after more than two months on the shelf. He originally suffered a knee injury Feb. 14 against the Utah Jazz.

However, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham would not disclose any information on when Wood might be available, telling reporters Sunday:

"All I'll say is he's still going through his recovery process from injury, his rehab process. Obviously, he has size, he has length, he has rebounding capabilities, he can stretch the floor. But first and foremost, he has a couple more boxes to check before we even consider that."

Signed to a one-year contract last offseason, Wood averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds during his first season with the Lakers. After averaging more than 25 minutes per game each of the previous three seasons, Wood played just 17.4 minutes a night in Los Angeles and saw his role dwindle as the year progressed.

It's fair to wonder whether Wood will even receive playing time when he's cleared. The Lakers have settled into a big man rotation over the last two months and were playing their best basketball of the season while Wood was sitting out.

Wood is also not known to be a quality defender, which doesn't bode well for his minutes playing against Nikola Jokić. The Lakers may try inserting Wood into the lineup if they need a jolt of scoring and rebounding off the bench in a pinch, but his return is unlikely to create much impact for at least the first round of the playoffs.

With the Lakers looking like heavy underdogs against the defending champs, don't expect much to come of Wood being back.