Which Ham said less than 3-4 weeks ago he didn’t care about (age, etc) if the player was performing. So much that he has said and promised since he got here that he has gone back on his word with it and ignored.
BTW ..... bump again from page 2 for Max's short cameo last night. I can see that physically during the course of the actual season he continues to add muscle. This kid will be a beast in another year or two at his position physically. Comes in and looks totally capable on defense .... maybe just as good as Brown? And does a nice Kobe mid range move to get space and go up and knock down a shot. If Dennis has to miss time I hope somehow it translates into more minutes for Max. He just looks good beyond his years and experience out there.
Max put in good work this summer, he would probably be getting more burn, if we had traded Lonnie. I'd like to see him play with Jarred and AD for a few minutes at least this season. Next season that might be a nice defensive combination.
the little pull up jumper was nice. he missed a pass to rui under the hoop on another pull up attempt, but it will come. it's just really crowded at his position right now. i'm guessing that will clear up a bit next year, though not a ton. he'll have to fight for minutes. good problem to have for us.
I th If he gets the burn, he could be a Beast next season for us. I really hope we keep him for many seasons to come.
I got your back Max .... too much going on with page 1 right now, and certainly no reflexion on YOU. BUMP. Yeah much as we like Troy and the GREAT value he has been at vet minimum .... my crystal ball says he's just not going to be able to be retained for what he should be able to get elsewhere ..... especially with Christie waiting in the wings. Max should get a LOT of playing time next season early off the bench or as a starter as needed, if Troy could do that this year, IMO.
Agreed. Max is exactly what we need and should get good minutes. Hopefully it doesn't take most of the season to figure that out. He will make it easier to put money in other areas of need.
I hope he plays more minutes next season. I think we’ll retain Beasley and give him another shot with Reaves taking the bulk minutes at SG. DLO / Schroeder (mMLE) Reaves / Beasley / Christie Vando / Lebron / Rui / Wenyen AD / Bamba I don’t think we can retain Troy Brown Jr, he’ll get more than the vet min. I think both Lonnie and him might be gone but we’ll be able to keep the majority of the team together.
Will Lonnie get more than 8M from other teams? Because if not, I think we can retain him for a little more than 7M. It’s really Troy that we might lose because it’s between him and DS for Midlevel exception. Dennis might bolt like Monk though so fair play to both.
Jeezus Max ... take my eyes off your thread for a couple days and your modest self slips to Page 2 again. You're too good for Page 2 .... and look at your upper body's and legs' additional 15lbs you have put on while playing your first season by the age of 20. Grown man muscles soon to follow. Bump!! https://www.latimes.com/sports/newsletter/2023-04-03/lakers-newsletter-template-lakers Lakers newsletter: Max Christie considers his future, not his present Lakers guard Max Christie defends against Kings guard Malik Monk. (Ashley Landis / Associated Press) BY DAN WOIKE STAFF WRITERFOLLOW APRIL 3, 2023 11 AM PT Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options HOUSTON — Hey, everyone, and welcome to the latest edition of the Lakers newsletter, I’m Dan Woike, this time coming to you from the press room in Houston where the Lakers just moved to two games over .500 for the first time this year. Max drama When the NBA released the Lakers schedule, rookie Max Christie’s eyes darted down the list to try to find the team’s one trip to Chicago in late March. After starring in high school just outside of the city in the northwest suburbs, the chance to be in NBA uniform just two years after playing high school games at Rolling Meadows High was a literal dream come true. But as the Lakers got to planning for their last trip of the season, a dilemma presented itself for the 20-year-old rookie. Should he go with the team and probably sit on the bench or should he stay in California and play with the Lakers’ G-League team as it entered the playoffs. “At first, I wanted to be in Chicago,” he told The Times on Friday. “That was my initial reaction to seeing that it was either the playoff game or be in Chicago.” That decision would’ve been best for Christie, the person. But this year? It’s been about Christie, the basketball player. “After I slept on it and stepped back a little bit, like the best thing for my development in that situation was to play in that G-League game,” Christie said. “It was a playoff atmosphere and it was going to be a great game. ...I wanted to be a part of that game. And I definitely think it helped me just being a part of that game, being in those tight game situations. I don’t regret staying back and playing.” Decisions like that one, which underscores the maturity and focus the Lakers rookie has used this season to impress his older teammates, is just one of the reasons why he’s helped shift projections for his professional future. Teammates and rival scouts don’t need to squint to envision Christie as a starting guard, a player with more than enough athleticism and toughness to defend the position while owning a sweet shooting stroke from three-point range. Christie played in 17 games with the South Bay Lakers this season, 18 if you count the playoff game they lost last week. He averaged 14.5 points on 44.1% shooting and 36.4% shooting from three. With the Lakers this season, he appeared in 38 games, where he has made 41.9% from three and looked like a credible defender against top-tier guards such as Bradley Beal. But with minutes hard to come by, the time in the G-League became vital, Christie said. “It was super valuable for sure,” he said. “Being in situations down there that I might not be in up here, in terms of game-winning situations where sometimes I converted and sometimes I didn’t. But having those experiences where I had the ball in my hands at the end of a game. Or just throughout the game in general, I could just develop on the things I’m watching as I’m on the bench with the Lakers, seeing the tricks everyone in here is using, the ones teams are using against us, coverages, and then applying that to the G League. “It was definitely important to me.” Christie said physically and mentally, his first year in the league went well. He avoided the “rookie wall” — “Maybe I haven’t played enough games to meet that criteria,” he wondered — and has now gone back to his pre- and postgame workout routines with the Lakers as the team pushes for the postseason. “Hopefully in the years to come, I’ll have plenty of games in Chicago,” Christie said. That seems like a pretty safe bet.
They should have played Max more and put Lonnie to pasture. The future version of him is what this team is lacking. Playoffs expose little weaknesses and the lack of a shutdown defensive guard who can shoot is the biggest and maybe only real weakness outside an addition trustworthy big that this team has
I really don’t understand why he didn’t receive more burn this season. Yes, he’s a rookie, but the last three or four games he played, he looked VERY steady. He wasn’t rushing too much or trying things out of his skill set. He was even hitting shots. I guess Hambone feels the same way about rookies as Phil did.
I really like Max’s potential. Let Lonnie go and develop the kid next year as bench wing. He looks like he could be our 3 and D guy of the future.
I think he’s the obvious replacement for Troy, who is clearly worth more than the bargain at vet minimum Rob got him for …. and we’re not going to match with all of our other needs and personnel decisions dictated by Jeanie’s pocket book and the repeater tax. And would not be surprised at all if Max is at least as good next year as Troy this year both sides of the ball.
“Man muscles” still a few years off but “already” looking pretty nice with his less than 1 year of work as a Laker at his young age and playing during the season. Has a great frame.
i'm expecting him to step up and take the backup g/f role next year, which means we shouldn't have to focus there in FA.
I still think that's an off season priority to get a vet who can eat some of those minutes, doesn't have to be high usage if Brown leaves though. We saw what happened last year with AR. Max isn't ready to be available for season long contributions after red shirting this year. Conditioning won't be there yet. I think he can be a backup and eat the Walker role and some of the Brown minutes, but we will need a stay ready vet for when that wall kicks Max's a**. That's lower on my list than a facilitating backup PG and another big. That could change depending on roster decisions we make with our own guys, but i'm assuming nearly everyone will return.
i'm figuring that reaves and beasley will get most sg minutes and rui/vando/lebron will get most sf minutes. thus, i don't see the need to spend on a vet backup sg/sf when we can just let christie fill in when necessary. i'm guessing we'll use the tax mle or something comparable to either bring back schroder or bring in a veteran ballhandling guard to spell russell. feel like the extra big will be bamba and a vet min or someone we trade bamba for at some point. obviously, if we can keep brown cheap, i'd do that, but i think christie should make it such that backup wing isn't a priority.
