The Los Angeles Lakers' midseason trade of Anthony Davis and Max Christie remains one of the most shocking moves in recent league history. Landing the franchise star that is Luka changed the Lakers' championship window and reset a model that simply wasn't working.
For the Mavericks, the team's awful decision has somewhat paid off with the team landing Cooper Flagg in this year's draft. It speaks to a flawed system that rewarded awful team-building from the Mavericks. Still, it does give Dallas a chance to contend in the Western Conference despite the loss of star point guard Kyrie Irving.
With this in mind, it appeared for a moment that former Laker Max Christie could be headed into the team's starting lineup. Anthony Davis would be the lone franchise star as the Mavericks reset ahead of Kyrie's return. Trading Luka would seem to signal a franchise rebuild, and that would be an opportunity for Christie to get extensive playing time. However, that has changed with the first round of the NBA draft officially in the books. Christie is not only not in the team's starting lineup but appears to be quickly falling down the depth chart.
Former Lakers Scorer Max Christie Demoted on New Team
This isn't to say Christie has fallen out of the rotation, but rather pointing to the reality that this isn't the opportunity it first appeared to be.
Dallas is now going to be completely focused on Cooper Flagg and the fit of Anthony Davis with its current veteran pieces. It seems the franchise is making a push to bring in veteran defenders. This makes sense with the team's best path to relevance being Flagg's quick development and Davis having defensive help that allows the big man to be more aggressive on the other end of the floor.
While it is painful to watch both Christie and Davis in another uniform, the Lakers would do the deal again in a heartbeat. Christie's demotion serves as a reminder of how little depth Los Angeles offered in the 2024-25 season and how lucky the team was to be able to land its star of the future.
Now, the Lakers are afforded a full offseason to fix the depth issues and build out a contender around Luka. For Christie, there is still going to be a chance to work his way into relevance; the road has just grown a bit more difficult.