2022 NBA Draft: Los Angeles Lakers select Max Christie, Michigan State shooting guard

Michigan State shooting guard Max Christie is off the board in the 2022 NBA Draft. With the No. 35 pick in the second round, Christie was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers.

A five-star recruit in the Class of 2021, Max Christie is leaving Michigan State for the NBA Draft after just one season. It was a season that Michigan State had a lot of hope during, but a streak of losses in Big Ten play derailed their run. Still, Michigan State made it to the NCAA Tournament, where they eventually lost to Duke.

Max Christie scored 21 points against Nebraska, which ended up being a season-high for the freshman. He was a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and flashed tons of ability throughout the season. He has also represented the United State of America national team in the 2019 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship.

On the season, Max Christie averaged 9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. He shot 38.2% from the field and 31.7% from three-point range.

Prior to the NBA Draft, Max Christie was projected by ESPN to go 45th overall. Because of that, there was some surprise that he didn’t choose to go back to Michigan State and develop for another season.

Max Christie is a quick and athletic player, who has a good understanding of spacing on the offensive side of the ball. While he does have room to improve on the defensive side of the ball, it’s not for a lack of effort and intensity.

He needs to get better at handling the ball, or he’ll struggle at the next level. It won’t hurt him to add muscle mass to his frame. Overall, becoming a more consistent player would go a long way to helping Christie to thrive at the NBA level.

Now that he’s in the NBA, what is Max Christie going to do? Well, when he spoke to the Big Ten, Christie said he’d buy new clothes first. Second, is going to be working to be the best player he possibly can be.