6 Crucial Lakers who prove this isn't the same team from a season ago
By most means and measures, the Los Angeles Lakers will be the same team in 2024-25 that they were in 2023-24. It's the inevitable conclusion after a team goes through free agency without signing a single new player.
Despite the fact that the roster is generally the same as it was a season ago, the Lakers are in the unique position of being a genuine new-look team.
Los Angeles finished the 2023-24 season with 47 wins, the inaugural NBA Cup, and a first-round exit from the playoffs to show for their efforts. It was a polarizing display by the franchise, which showed flashes of brilliance and unfortunate signs of regression after reaching the 2023 Western Conference Finals.
That divisive run through the 2023-24 campaign ended when Los Angeles lost its eighth playoff game in nine tries to the Denver Nuggets.
Beyond being unable to figure out Nikola Jokic, the Lakers simply didn't seem to get on the same page at any point last season. The starting lineup was generally healthy, but that couldn't prevent the issues that plagued the organization from derailing it altogether.
Thankfully, while the roster may look similar, Los Angeles is poised to play an entirely different brand of basketball—due in large part to the crucial Lakers who provide the subtle differences from one season to the next.
That all begins with the up-and-coming wing who just signed a contract that should guarantee the opportunity to crack the rotation.
Max Christie
The Lakers' biggest move of the 2024 period of free agency was re-signing LeBron James. Second to that essential development, however, was inking 21-year-old wing Max Christie to a four-year, $32 million contract.
Christie struggled to find playing time under previous head coach Darvin Ham, and now equipped with a rotation-level salary, should make an impact under JJ Redick.
Christie appeared in 108 games in two seasons with Ham as head coach, averaging just 13.5 minutes per game. He never received the opportunity to establish himself as a consistent contributor, but shot efficiently at 37.8 percent from beyond the arc and 80.6 percent at the free throw line.
In 2024-25, having Christie on the court for more than his career-best 14.1 minutes per game offers an immediate example of how different the Lakers could be.
Christie is a 6'5" and 190-pound wing with a near 6'9" wingspan. He'll be slotting into a rotation that's desperate for perimeter defenders and willing perimeter shooters, which makes his career mark of 39.9 percent on catch-and-shoot threes all the more enticing.
If Christie continues to shoot well from distance and defends with as much willingness as he claims he will, the Lakers will receive an impressive influx of talent from the opening tip onward.