Shooting guard Max Christie’s potential return date for the Lakers
According to sources, Max Christie, a rookie shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers who was chosen with the 35th overall pick this past summer out of Michigan State, has at least passed the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety requirements.
The 6’6″ swingman will be able to play again for the team as soon as this Friday when Los Angeles plays the first of two back-to-back road games against the struggling San Antonio Spurs, according to Woj.
Prior to his being sidelined with the new coronavirus, Christie, 19, had carved accurate (though limited) rotation minutes for the Lakers. Christie has missed the Lakers’ last three games, during which L.A. has gone 2-1 without him.
Christie played an average of 20.2 minutes per game in the four games he played before the NBA put him under coronavirus treatment. He also averaged 4.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 assists per game. L.A.’s youngest player, born roughly a year after the final Shaqobe championship, is earning minutes reflects the team’s lack of two-way solid depth, even though he may have the makings of a quality 3-and-D role player.
He is scoring 3.1 points on.471/.545/.750 shooting splits (i.e., on minimal volume) across 11.5 minutes per night over eight games this season.
It will be a pleasant bonus if Christie is readily available for the Lakers’ two highly competitive San Antonio Spurs games. It is still determined how many minutes he will see behind a rather deep guard rotation. Despite this, the Lakers don’t have many reliable wings. Thus, Christie might still get some playing time in front of Austin Reaves, Lonnie Walker, and Troy Brown Jr.
Juan Toscano-Anderson, a 6’6″ forward, is still dealing with mid-back stiffness, so it’s unknown when he’ll be ready. However, JTA has been somewhat underwhelming in his minutes with Los Angeles thus far, so there’s a potential that Christie will leapfrog him even when he is.
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