The Los Angeles Lakers have a roster chock full of veteran players, but they reportedly made a move to hang onto one of their youngsters on Sunday.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that 2022 second-round pick and restricted free agent Max Christie is set to re-sign with the Lakers on a four-year $32 million deal that includes a player option.
Wojnarowski added that the 21-year-old “has shown promise as a future [Los Angeles] rotation player.”
Christie appeared in 67 games for the Lakers with seven starts during his sophomore season and averaged 4.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 14.1 minutes of action. He’s a career 37.8-percent shooter from beyond the arc.
Los Angeles is expected to be one of the more active teams in free agency this offseason as the team tries to add talent around stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis in hopes of competing for a championship next season. The Lakers are entering a new era under first-year head coach JJ Redick, and James is in the final stages of his legendary career, so there are multiple players on their radar this summer.
James opted out of the final year of his contract on Saturday and intends to negotiate a new deal with Los Angeles. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that the 39-year-old is willing to take less than the $51.4 million he was set to make in the final year of the deal in order to help the Lakers pursue some of the top players on the market.
“The type of player that James would be willing to make a financial sacrifice for would be an established veteran playmaker like James Harden or Klay Thompson, or an established big man to play alongside Anthony Davis — like Jonas Valančiūnas,” McMenamin reported.
Re-signing Christie is a step in the right direction, but it’s clear that bigger moves are on the horizon for the Lakers this offseason.
