The 2022 NBA Draft wouldn’t be complete without a protege of Tom Izzo going professional. With the No. 35 overall selection, the Los Angeles Lakers took Michigan State Spartans guard Max Christie:
Max Christie is on his way to L.A. 🍿
The Lakers take the Michigan State guard with the No. 35 pick pic.twitter.com/02706Ngj7w
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 24, 2022
And needless to say, he was excited to be going to a team with so many great players.
“It’s amazing. It’s surreal,” he said shortly after he was drafted. “LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony — I mean, the list goes on,” Christie told reporters in Brooklyn, New York. “A bunch of great players on the Lakers team. I think I can learn a lot and get better on that organization.”
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka was thrilled to be adding Christie to their roster.
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“We talked about intentionally getting younger and I think the chance to get into the top of the second round was something that we strategically had on our board that we wanted to accomplish,” Pelinka said after the draft. “Appreciative of the conversations with the Orlando Magic that really started a week ago and were able to acquire 35 and as you guys know, our scouts have an incredible track record of finding guys in the second round that we can develop and turn into good players. And we think Max Christie is definitely next in line with those type of players. Just a two-way, 3-and-D type player. High character person, played for Tom Izzo. He’s just gonna bring just the grit that kids that play in that program bring. Really excited about that.
Max Christie was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
“And then added a couple two-way players, we’re in the process with Cole Swider who’s a knockdown 6’9″ shooter from Syracuse. I know [Dave] Mcmenamin’s got to be happy there. And Scotty Pippen Jr., who is just a tenacious defensive-minded kid that is gonna compete every night he plays and I think will really change the complexity of camp because I know he’s gonna compete for a position and play hard and we just loved his attitude when he came here and worked out. Loved what he did in Chicago and we just think those three players are gonna add a certain amount of energy to what we do when camp opens and we’re really excited.”
Christie decided that he was ready to take the next step in his career to the NBA after just one season in East Lansing, declaring for the 2022 Draft shortly after his team’s tournament loss to the Duke Blue Devils. His freshman year saw him average 9.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 35 appearances while shooting 31.7% from beyond the arc.
