The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping Max Christie becomes an integral part of their rotation during the 2024-25 season after they re-signed him in free agency.
Christie agreed to come back on a four-year, $32 million deal and has a clear path to minutes after Taurean Prince signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. Christie showed flashes of his 3-and-D skillset last year, and seems to be growing more and more comfortable as the 2024-25 season approaches.
After a strong first preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Christie came back down to Earth a bit as he struggled shooting the basketball in the loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night. In 29 minutes off the bench, the 21-year old had 12 points on just 3-of-14 shooting to go along with three rebounds, one assist and one steal.
However, he isn’t getting too down on himself and discussed how he remains confident in his game. “I think I’ve made a lot of good strides with my game overall but I think mentally too with my confidence, kind of just my approach, my mentality coming into the game I think has gotten a lot better,” Christie said.
“I think tonight, for me, I shot 3-of-14, yeah, but I got 14 shots up. I think I was pretty aggressive, I looked pretty confident out there and felt pretty confident out there. I thought all of my misses were pretty good misses. Did I take some questionable shots? Sure. But I think for me, just being aggressive and I think that’s a pretty good step in the right direction for me and my game. Eventually I’ll knock those down at a consistent rate, so that was good.”
Christie came off the bench with the starting five available and noted what he believes his role is when he comes into games.
“I thought it was good, I was first off the bench. I was just trying to bring energy. I think I’ve reiterated that a little bit, I’m just trying to bring energy off the bench and kind of do the little things. I think we had a good stretch to end the first half too, especially. So it was good to be out there early.”
While head coach JJ Redick’s starting five appears set, Christie is expected to see consistent minutes for the first time in his career and it’ll be interesting to see if he can make good on his opportunities.
JJ Redick says Max Christie will be very valuable for Lakers
JJ Redick has praised his young group of players and for Max Christie specifically he believes he’ll be very valuable for the Lakers this upcoming season and beyond.
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