The Lakers and Max Christie agreed to a four-year, $32 million contract, with the final year of the deal being a player option, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Christie was slated to become a restricted free agent at 3 p.m. PT on Sunday, when teams were officially allowed to start negotiating deals with free agents not previously on their rosters, but the Lakers and Christie agreed to a new contract an hour before that negotiating period opened up.
In a new league rule, teams could start negotiating with upcoming free agents who finished the just-completed season on its roster the day after the NBA Finals ended on June 17.
The 21-year-old Christie, who doesn’t turn 22 until February, was the Lakers’ second-round draft pick in 2022 (No. 32 overall).
He’s shown flashes of a 3-and-D skillset in his two seasons with the Lakers, specifically as an on-ball defender, spot-up shooter and defensive rebounder. His role fluctuated last season under previous coach Darvin Ham.
Since joining the Lakers, Christie has averaged 3.8 points and two rebounds and shot 37.8% on 3-pointers in 108 regular-season games (10 starts).
During new head coach JJ Redick’s introductory news conference last Monday, Redick and Lakers General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka mentioned Christie when discussing the organization’s player-development plans.
The Lakers entered free agency with $127.34 million in active salaries committed to 11 players signed to standard NBA deals for 2024-25.
This doesn’t factor in the cap holds for their free agents or expected 2024-25 salaries for their draft picks Dalton Knecht ($3.83 million) and Bronny James (around $1.16 million).
The league announced on Sunday that the salary cap has been set at $140.588 million for the 2024-25 season. The minimum team salary is $126.529 million. The tax level is $170.814 million while the first apron level is $178.132 million while the second apron level is $188.931 million.
If LeBron James re-signs with the Lakers as a free agent as expected, they’d eventually have 15 players signed to their roster, meaning the franchise would have to make trades or transactions to free up roster space to add other free agents.
The elder James’ maximum salary for 2024-25 could be around $49.9 million, but he’s reportedly willing to take a significant pay cut so the Lakers have the financial flexibility to add a significant player with the full non-taxpayer midlevel exception, which will be $12.82 million.
The free agency moratorium, a period in which teams may not sign most free agents or make trades, runs from Sunday afternoon through 9:01 a.m. on Saturday.
