Fantasy Basketball Week 12 Waiver Wire Adds: Max Christie

By Aiden Wolf-NielsenJanuary 8, 2025
Fantasy Basketball Week 12 Waiver Wire Adds: Max Christie

It truly is amazing just how quickly a narrative can shift in the NBA over the course of just a month. For Max Christie and the Los Angeles Lakers, the narrative about a supposedly struggling team has been rapidly shifting the other way, with the Lakers proving to be one of the most in-form teams in the league. While the focus has been on the apparent breakout of Austin Reaves and the arrival of Dorian Finney-Smith, Christie has been playing a huge role in covering the weaknesses of the starting lineup. 

 

 

An Absolute Steal

 

Max Christie has long been the go-to answer for Lakers fans when discussing the best available fit on the roster next to their top-heavy duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It would not be a stretch to call Christie the best perimeter defender on the roster in its current iteration, and fortunately for fantasy managers, this does come with some upside for the wing. 

 

Over the last two weeks for the Lakers, Christie has been grabbing 1.3 steals per game. This number also perfectly aligns with his averages in the eleven games he has started this season. As the defensive Robin to AD’s Batman, he has a lot of responsibility in making sure he keeps the opposing team's best perimeter player on lock. He takes full advantage of his speed and frame in order to force turnovers at a high rate for his team, and his steal count would place him at a Z-Score of .1 over the past couple of weeks. 

 

Christie is also managing to impact the game at a high level since his insertion in the starting lineup, and this stretches far beyond whatever counting stats he might generate to your stocks. Out of the current starting five (Reaves, Christie, LeBron, Rui Hachimura, and AD), only AD ranks higher than Christie in defensive rating. In fact, when comparing the starters against the team average, only Christie and AD sit above the team average of 115.2, both by wide margins (112.6 and 108.7, respectively). The Lakers have also coasted to a 7-3 record in his time as a starter and have narrowly claimed the four seed for now. All of this points to Christie being a key rotation piece going forward

 

 

Shot in the Dark

 

Christie has also been shining for the Lakers on the offensive end of the ball as well. Since he moved into the starting lineup, Christie has been fully taking advantage of the gravity created by his teammates to hit new highs in his three point spacing. While it is most likely just a hot streak for the young guard, it is noticeable enough of a shift in his value from sitting to starting in order to be worth a discussion.

 

As mentioned above, the difference in three point percentage from Christie as a starter versus coming off the bench is night and day. Shooting at a woeful 32% off the bench, that number jumps up to an ultra efficient 45% when in the starting lineup. While it could just be a hot streak, it is worth mentioning that Christie has not ever played an extended recurring role as a starter for this iteration of the Lakers, so it is possible that the open looks given to him can stick at a rate of around 40%. 

 

Not only has the efficiency reached new heights, but his volume is also increasing significantly. Christie has scored 2.3 threes a night over the last two weeks, putting him in the same company as esteemed scorers such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Desmond Bane. This seems sustainable, given that most of his looks are coming from deep, with over half of his 7.6 FGA coming from behind the three point line. His numbers, should they keep steady, have him at a Z-Score of .34 over the last couple weeks

 

 

Verdict 

 

So is Max Christie worth the add? And what can we expect going forward from this relatively unknown commodity? I personally believe that should this lineup from the Lakers stick going forward, Christie could easily finish inside the top 120 on the season, with the potential to go on top 80 runs should he find some fire from deep. 

 

Over the past two weeks as a starter, Christie has comfortably sailed into a top 60 spot. This is very notable given the incredible balance he brings across all categories, as he remains top 90 even should one be punting his best category (turnovers). When looking at his profile, he looks very similar to Mikal Bridges when playing for the Phoenix Suns. Christie’s weakest categories are his assists and rebounds, and it looks to be that way as long as he is being utilized as a play finisher. However, should he be able to maintain this Bridges comp, he appears an easy lock on any category league roster. 

 

The Lakers have looked like a new team since the D’Angelo Russell trade (duh, they are), and leaning into a clear division of roles has helped them to improve. Since phasing out Cam Reddish from the starting unit, as well as leaning into Reaves to cover more playmaking opportunities previously held up by Russell, the Lakers have cleared a significant path to making Max Christie shine in his limited role. 

 

As long as he continues to play as he is, Christie remains a must-roster candidate in every category league. While he is unlikely to blow any category away for you (even his steals and threes are not the most eye-catching of numbers), Mikal Bridges has proven even mild positives add up across the board, especially should those positives be in harder to find categories like stocks and percentages. While there is always room for Christie to regress back to his prior self, I stand firm that this new situation for him will only increase his ceiling, as well as raise the ceiling for a struggling Lakers unit. Add him while you can, as finding players who do not harm you in one way or another is very difficult on the wire.