Max Christie discusses free agency negotiations with Lakers: ‘I wanted to come back‘

It sounds like contract talks between the Lakers and Max Christie were as cool as a summer breeze, ensuring the team will keep his raw talent in Los Angeles for four more years.

While the Lakers have not added any new players to the roster, minus rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, they have kept last year’s core intact.

Players like Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood and D’Angelo Russell exercised their player options to remain in Los Angeles, but others like Max Christie were restricted free agents.

The Lakers ultimately signed Christie to a 4-year, $32 million deal, keeping him on the team.

Christie discussed how the contract talks with Los Angeles went in an interview with Jovan Buha of The Athletic on his latest podcast episode.

“It was fun. It was good. Sort of the back-and-forth negotiations, it was pretty mutual between, it was really me and Coach (JJ) Redick and (vice president of basketball operations) Rob (Pelinka). We were all trying to get on the same page, really, because I wanted to be a Laker. I wanted to come back. I think we have a really good team and, so, I wanted to be a part of that. It was cool. We wanted to get it done before free agency started just to get rid of all that turmoil and stuff. I’m glad we reached an agreement right before it started. So, we knocked all that out and we’re good to go.”

It sounds like securing a contract was hassle-free and that’s exactly how you want things to go when you’ve developed young talent. Ideally, you sign them on a longer-term deal after a couple of seasons and reap the benefits of their development.

With Christie only playing 14 minutes per game in his 67 appearances last season, one assumes that a fresh start with Lakers head coach JJ Redick could increase his minutes and maximize his potential.

Christie averaged a modest 4.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists last year but showed flashes of brilliance, like his 12-point performance against the Raptors last April.

The NBA is becoming increasingly about having elite wings and while Christie isn’t quite at that level yet, he has the raw tools to become one.

Let’s see if he makes leaps towards that trajectory in 2025.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.