Report: Lakers intend to play Max Christie ‘a lot’

Los Angeles Lakers guard Max Christie is going to get a chance to play “a lot” in the 2024-25 season, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

“Their big signing was Max Christie,” Windhorst said of Christie. “They signed him to that contract with the intent to play him a lot. So, they’re going to play Austin Reaves. They’re going to play Christie.”

Los Angeles showed its faith in Christie this offseason by signing him to a four-year, $32 million deal.

With the Lakers losing guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Taurean Prince this offseason, there’s a chance that Christie plays an expanded role as a 3-and-D player in new head coach J.J. Redick’s rotation.

Last season, Christie appeared in 67 games and made seven starts in Darvin Ham’s rotation. He finished the season averaging 4.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from beyond the arc.

In the playoffs, Ham opted not to play Christie, and the Lakers were knocked out in the first round by the Denver Nuggets in just five games.

A second-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Christie clearly has some believers in the Lakers organization that think he can expand upon that production over the next four seasons.

Los Angeles has made solid moves with lesser-known players before, including Reaves, who has become one of the most important players on the Lakers’ roster despite entering the league as an undrafted free agent.

Christie is a solid shooter from 3-point range (37.8 percent for his career) and could be a perfect floor-spacing player alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Los Angeles also has a few other players – mainly Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent – that could factor in for more minutes in the 2024-25 season. Vanderbilt and Vincent both missed a ton of time last season due to injury.

Despite losing in the first round of the playoffs in the 2023-24 season, the Lakers didn’t make a big splash this offseason, Instead, they drafted Dalton Knecht in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft and retained players like D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Vanderbilt and Vincent rather than moving them in a trade.

Hopefully, the Lakers are right about Christie being able to develop into a contributing piece in their rotation for the 2024-25 season and beyond.