Buha: Not playing Max Christie was a factor in Darvin Ham’s firing
The Los Angeles Lakers will see multiple rotation players become free agents this summer, and that list starts with LeBron James, who is expected to opt out of his current deal, most likely to get a new one from them.
One other player who will hit the open market is reserve wing Max Christie. Christie was a second-round draft pick in 2022, and many feel he has the potential to become a legitimate 3-and-D player. He has shown a willingness to give 100% on the defensive end and help out on the boards, as well as an ability to hit open 3-pointers.
However, his playing time has been inconsistent thus far. Plenty of Lakers fans criticized former head coach Darvin Ham for keeping Taurean Prince, Spencer Dinwiddie and even Cam Reddish ahead of Christie in the rotation, even though Dinwiddie struggled and Reddish contributed next to nothing most of the time.
According to The Athletic beat writer Jovan Buha in a “Lakers mailbag” episode, this decision by Ham played a role in him getting fired about a week ago (h/t Lakers Daily).
“From what I’ve been told, the Lakers have interest in him,” Lakers insider Jovan Buha said of Christie. “They want to retain him. And they still see the potential in him that was — I think part of the disconnect in terms of the front office and the coaching staff, in terms of Max Christie’s role and him being underutilized.”
Los Angeles certainly wants to sign Christie to a new contract, especially considering his potential and the fact that he’s just 21 years of age.
“So, from my understanding, the Lakers are going to try to retain him. Now as for what that deal would look like, based on the Lakers’ track record, it would probably be a three-year deal — maybe four, given his youth — but at least three. I would probably lean three and then something in like the $15 (million) to $20 million range. So, something like five to seven million annually.”
Christie will be a restricted free agent, and the Lakers have his early Bird rights, which will certainly help them keep him around. But they don’t exactly have much wiggle room around the NBA’s extremely restrictive salary cap, and so it’s probably not a foregone conclusion he will be with them next season.
