Max Christie
This was supposed to be a breakout season for Max Christie. Christie looked great during the 2023 Summer League and followed that strong play up with an impressive performance during the preseason. However, once the regular season started, it did not really matter what Christie did in exhibition games.
Ham gave Christie's perceived role to Cam Reddish, outright axing Christie from the playoff roster altogether. Christie was reserved for either mop-up duty or was only called upon when the Lakers were dealing with injuries. And when his number was called, he delivered.
The Lakers rotation is now even more crowded after the deadline and the number of players who get playing time is going to shrink as the team prepares a playoff rotation. Christie is going to be one of the first players to get his minutes slashed and Lakers fans may not see him much in the second half of the season.
All of this will have an impact on his restricted free agency and at this time, it is hard to tell where the Lakers even stand on Christie. Does the team still even like him enough to bring him back on a cheap deal? Or will the team just let his contract expire and not match any deal he signs?
And even then, is there going to be another team that wants to bring Christie in? It is not like he is a highly-touted first-round pick from four years ago who just hasn't gotten the chance to play. He is a second-round pick who benefited from the Lakers hype train.
Christie may not get many chances to earn a new contract in the second half of the season so he has to take advantage of the chances he does get.