Max Christie is one of the young promises of the Lakers list and looks like it will remain in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future. The Lakers will reportedly bring back Christie on a four-year, $32 million contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Christie’s agent, Kevin Bradbury, of @LiftSportsmngmt and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka negotiated a deal that keeps Christie out of restricted free agency. Christie has been a developmental success story for the Lakers. https://t.co/Teup2i5mPk
—Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2024
The four-year deal may be a bit surprising in its length, but it’s a nice surprise for Lakers fans. Even if it’s a three-year deal with a player option for a fourth season, locking up a player like Christie for multiple seasons for less than $10 million annually has the potential to be a fantastic contract.
The fact that Christie was not accepted as a free agent is also a sign of how much this team values him. And perhaps a sign of confidence that management has deals ready to help them stay in the second division and open up roster spots.
At first glance, Christie had an unremarkable year, averaging 4.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 14.1 minutes of play in his 61 games during the 2023-24 season.
However, since the The Lakers saw him as part of the young core. During their coaching search, they clearly had interest in retaining him this offseason. To go further, reports leading up to free agency were that the team viewed him as a rotation player next year,
Regardless of how little he played last year, the Lakers see him as part of this team’s future. Although he is about to enter his third season, Christie is just 21 years old and has plenty of room to grow.
Quality forwards are hard to find, and with Christie returning on a modest contract, the Lakers will be able to find out what their ceiling is in Los Angeles.
The Lakers have been very busy this offseason with a A couple of draft picks, players who choose to participate And now, with Christie’s contract renewal, the The team has a serious problem with a shortage of players..
While bringing back players like Christie is a positive for the organization, they will have to be creative, find ways to execute trades and sign a quality player with the mid-level exemption if they want to improve and not just repeat what happened last year.
This live story will be updated.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.