Lakers bring back key young player on $32 million contract

The Lakers are looking to improve the roster to contender status.

The Los Angeles Lakers entered NBA free agency with not much to spend in terms of cap space and looking to build a championship contending roster. Barring an unforeseen major move, most of the Lakers offseason moves will most likely be internal. To that end, the Lakers came to an agreement to re-sign Max Christie in NBA free agency as per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

As per Wojnarowski, Max Christie’s new contract in free agency with the Lakers is for four years and $32 million. It’s not bad for a young player who showed flashes last season despite inconsistent playing time. With a new deal, Christie seems in line to receive more playing time next season under new head coach JJ Redick.

Christe was originally drafted by the Lakers with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He spent a good portion of the 2022-23 season in the G League with the South Bay Lakers while spending the 2023-24 season mostly on the Lakers bench playing sparingly.

Christie appeared in 67 games for the Lakers, including seven starts, at a little over 14 minutes per game. He averaged 4.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists with splits of 42.7 percent shooting from the field, 35.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 78.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Christie did not see any playing time during the Lakers first round playoff exit against the Denver Nuggets.

Rumors fly as the Lakers hit NBA free agency

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After agreeing to terms with Max Christie, that might not be the only move the Lakers make in free agency. As expected, LeBron James opted out of his contract, but is expected to re-sign with the Lakers. The only holdup is how much will James’ new contract be worth.

Early chatter suggests that James would be willing to take a pay cut in order for the Lakers to be able to add a real game-changing talent to the roster. The name that has been floated around most vigorously is Klay Thompson. Thompson is an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career and a return to the Golden State Warriors doesn’t appear likely.

Coming into the offseason, it seemed like the Lakers best avenue towards improving the roster was through a trade. D’Angelo Russell was also set to hit unrestricted free agent but made the decision to opt into his contract with the Lakers for the 2024-25 season.

Barring any major trades or free agent signings, the Lakers would likely bring back a roster very similar to last season. A roster that already proved they were not a contender in the Western Conference. They were eliminated in five games in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Nuggets, a year after being eliminated by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals in a sweep.