Lakers News: Max Christie Gets Shout Out From Darvin Ham After Big Night

In your Los Angeles Lakers' 131-99 home victory over the Utah Jazz, second-year wing Max Christie received 25 minutes of game time, his second-most on the season.

An injury to Cam Reddish pushed him out for the rest of the game in the 1st quarter, leaving Christie along with Austin Reaves as the only two healthy, playable guards off the bench.

He was fairly productive in those 25 minutes, recording seven points, but also tacking on five rebounds and 4 assists.

Here's what Lakers coach Darvin Ham had to say about his outing:

Darvin Ham speaks on Max Christie’s play tonight and the Lakers continuing to play the right way. pic.twitter.com/5C45VxR9KJ
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 22, 2023

Ham flooded Christie with compliments amidst some constructive criticism and a hint as to why he may not be receiving as much playing time as some fans would desire.

He refers to him as a "really bright young player," that'll be "part of [the Lakers] for a long time," remarking that the franchise is "really excited about [him]."

He also mentions how he needs to "[learn] how to navigate screens on the ball," while being "really great off the ball."

Christie is a 6'6" shooting guard with tremendous upside as a 3-and-D asset, something that the Lakers have yearned for since the loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope after the 2021 season.

It's unlikely Christie becomes a high-end role player this year, but if he can provide some quality spot minutes for LA, that could be a huge advantage down the stretch of the season.

In all of this, if the Lakers choose to make a trade, which there's been major buzz about, Christie could either be dealt or see an uptick in minutes following a transaction, which is worth monitoring.

Max has great players to learn from, and combined with LA having a history of doing a great job advancing young players (Austin Reaves, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso), it's fair to expect significant growth from him soon– the question is just how soon?

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