Max Christie turns weakness into strength in candid interview about Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers believe that Max Christie can be a key piece of the contending puzzle. That statement was made loud and clear this summer when the Lakers re-signed the former second-round draft pick to a four-year, $32 million contract.

After struggling to secure playing time under former head coach Darvin Ham, Christie is now poised to break out under head coach JJ Redick—and views a perceived weakness as an actual strength.

Outside of re-signing Christie and LeBron James, the Lakers have been quiet this offseason. General manager Rob Pelinka has yet to sign a new player via free agency, thus resulting in the possibility that Los Angeles will effectively return with the same lineup in 2024-25 that it had in 2023-24.

Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic, Christie cited the continuity factor as a positive rather than a negative, pointing to the NBA's top teams as an example of how important it could be.

"If you kind of look at the blueprint with teams that have been winning recently, for the most part, a lot of the teams stick together for a while, right?” Christie said. “I like the idea of us kind of running it back with the group that we have. I think, on paper, especially, we’re a really, really good team."

Christie continued:

"We made the playoffs both years. We ran into a really good Denver team that gave us trouble both years. … We were right there. We’re so close. We might as well just keep trying to build together."

At the very least, Christie is saying all of the right things—but it really isn't a case of blind optimism when evaluating the core of what he's saying.

Max Christie believes continuity will help Lakers, not hinder them

As Christie mentioned, it's difficult to find a contender that doesn't have significant roster continuity. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, for instance, won their first championship in their seventh season as teammates.

Their opponents in the 2024 NBA Finals were led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who missed the playoffs during their first season together in 2022-23.

The Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks made significant trades to improve, landing the likes of Daniel Gafford, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and PJ Washington. That's a crucial note to make, especially considering the Lakers have added no one but their draft picks in 2024.

The reality of what Los Angeles currently brings to the table, however, is that the core cast of players are still figuring each other out—and there's considerable room for growth.

Jarred Vanderbilt was a key defensive piece during the run to the 2023 Western Conference Finals, but he missed 53 games in 2023-24. Gabe Vincent, fresh off of helping the Miami Heat reach the 2023 NBA Finals, was brought to fill a crucial defensive void—but was absent for 71 outings.

Furthermore, the Lakers' starting lineup was shuffled routinely in 2023-24, with 12 different players appearing as starters in at least one game and 10 starting at least five.

In 2024-25, the Lakers will have a chance to figure out how the mystery pieces fit in a more stable rotation. That includes Christie, who averaged just 14.1 minutes per game in 2023-24 and is expected to see a considerably larger role this coming season.

Despite the lack of new faces, the Lakers have underutilized pieces to integrate into their rotation—and the continuity factor should work to help smooth the edges.