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.
Since joining the Lakers, Christie has averaged 3.8 points and two rebounds in 108 regular-season games (10 starts).
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.
More to come on this story.
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