The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off of the most disappointing season in franchise history and the team needed a big offseason to get fans to buy back in. While there is still potential for a big trade for Kyrie Irving, thus far, the offseason has been anti-climatic.
Los Angeles lost its best role player from last season’s roster in Malik Monk, which was completely out of the team’s control. With only minimum contracts and one Taxpayer MLE to give out, the names LA brought in were not the most exciting.
While not every move the team has made can be dissected, there are mistakes that have been made that will certainly come back to bite.
Here are 3 offseason mistakes that the Lakers will definitely regret:
1. Giving Max Christie a standard contract
The Los Angeles Lakers drafted Max Christie in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft. It did not take long for the Lakers to give Christie a standard contract and in hindsight, LA should have signed Christie to a two-way deal.
Of course, that is not a super common thing to do but Christie is younger and is relatively raw in the grand scheme of things. The Lakers are a team that is trying to contend for a title this season and Christie simply does not help that cause.
Instead, it would have been better both for the Lakers and for Christie to give him a two-way contract. Christie could have actually gotten reps in the G League to develop as a player and the Lakers could have used that roster spot for someone else.
Cole Swider should absolutely make the roster and it would be so much better to simply have him on a standard contract and Christie on a two-way deal. Swider can actually contribute to the rotation this season, Christie cannot.