Max Christie was one of the pieces the Los Angeles Lakers included in a trade deal to land Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks. While Christie was considered an afterthought inclusion behind Anthony Davis and a first-round pick, he’s been arguably the most consistent performer from this trade so far.
Christie was having a breakout year with the Lakers before being traded, reflecting on the night he got the call from Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick about his trade in a piece by Andscape.
“I had my suspicions when I got that call. The emotions at that moment obviously were pretty overwhelming. And then going back to the hotel room, I got zero seconds of sleep that night. I was up from 12 [a.m.] to 8:15 [a.m.] I had a flight the next morning at 8:30 to go to Dallas. I was in denial a little bit, at first. I can’t believe this is happening…
“If you look at the magnitude of that trade, it magnifies that emotion. So, I was shocked, man. I was on the floor in the hotel room for two hours just thinking about what was going on. I eventually came to my senses, obviously, and had to put one foot in front of the other and think about what I needed to do next. So far, I’ve had a good job just kind of settling in and just trying to stay present. That’s the biggest thing for me is just being present here, trying to help this team win games.”
Christie also opened up on playing on the Mavericks, excited for the competitive future of the franchise after all their injured big men return to the court.
“All our bigs, Gaff, Lively, Powell, A.D., our defense is going to be unbelievable. Teams aren’t going to be able to get shots up at the rim because we have so much length in the paint. And then, A.D., obviously offensively, we know what he’s capable of. Gafford and Lively are elite lob threats. Dwight Powell brings a punch with his physicality as well.
“We’re going to be really good when we’re healthy. And the fact that we’re able to stay afloat right now so far with the small ball we’re playing is really good for us. When those guys come back, the amount of juice and punch they bring on both sides of the ball is going to be good for us.”
Christie spoke about this before his first game back in LA with the Mavericks. While his team fell to a 99-107 loss, Christie put up 10 points (4-13 FG) and six assists in 37 minutes of action.
He’s been great since joining the Mavericks, averaging 14.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 9 games.
He’s been thrown into a pretty sizable role in the backcourt given the franchise’s lack of guards beyond Kyrie Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie, with his aggressive 3-and-D play style quickly making head coach Jason Kidd rely on him for major contributions.
This role in Dallas might allow Christie to elevate his game after being boxed into a POA defender role for the Lakers this season. He’s just 22 years old, so there’s a lot of room to grow.
He likely will never be an adequate replacement for a player of Doncic’s caliber, but he could win over fans over a long-term career with the franchise.
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