The ceiling for Max Christie is unknown, but the Lakers would like to keep him on the team and find out.
Max Christie has continued to grow during his sophomore season. His role has extended and he is no longer glued to the bench or spending time in the G-League with the South Bay Lakers.
He’s averaging 4.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists during his 17.7 minutes of play. Now, while those numbers won’t wow anyone, he’s doing what you want for a young player on a team that sees itself as a contender. He’s contributing well and improving from his first season and is good enough to demand a couple of shifts a night for a historic franchise while still being so young that he cannot legally order a beer at a bar.
His potential and rookie wage make him a player other teams would love to acquire in a trade and with the Lakers doing their due diligence exploring the market, it’s likely Max Christie’s name will come up in conversations with teams.
Jovan Buha of The Athletic discussed Christie’s trade value and seemed pretty certain he will remain a Lakers past the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
“Max Christie is a sneakily interesting asset. Smart teams view him as an underrated 3-and-D wing prospect. He’s still not even 21 years old. But the Lakers would prefer to keep Christie.”
It’s trade rumor season for the Lakers right now.
Every player not named LeBron James and Anthony Davis is going to be mentioned in some capacity and while there are a few Lakers most likely to be moved, the rumors are always much grander than what ultimately happens.
So far, Dejounte Murray, Bruce Brown Jr., Tyus Jones and Collin Sexton have all been named as trade targets for the Lakers, but we still have weeks to go before the deadline and are unlikely to hear any deals done until we are closer to the date.
For now, it seems the Lakers are ‘taking a patient approach’ and ensuring they don’t panic and make a bad move just to say they did something.
D’Angelo Russell, a player involved in many trades, has made it clear that the Lakers haven’t hit the panic button, but with L.A. still struggling to get over .500, things need to improve trade or no trade quickly as we begin this second half of the season.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.
