Lakers newsletter: Max Christie heads list of young Lakers to watch in the preseason

Hey everyone, this is Dan Woike and welcome back to The Times Lakers Newsletter, or as me and my editors love to call it, “The Times Lakers Newsletter.” We finally have the semblance of basketball to talk about here, with a new coach starting a new season with new storylines and … not a new roster.

Still, there are a few younger players who are going to be worth watching this preseason with a shot to catch JJ Redick’s eye.

Let’s break them down:

Max Christie

21 years old, 108 career games

The vet on this list is still one of the youngest players on the Lakers roster and the player with the most immediate hopes for real minutes. The Lakers’ decision to lock in with Christie before he hit restricted free agency signaled what Rob Pelinka and Redick have said — he’s part of their plans.

“I think to win now in today’s NBA, you need seven or eight players that really impact winning,” Redick said prior to media day. “And that doesn’t mean seven or eight superstars that need the ball in their hands. Max Christie is gonna be a guy in his career who has a high-level impact on winning.”

LeBron James and Redick mentioned Christie after the team’s first practice, the kind of thing you’d want to hear about a young player about to head into a bigger role. Still, getting on the court is just the first step.

The key to not only staying on the floor but being a difference-maker for the Lakers this season will come from Christie’s ability to defend in space against scorers. If he’s able to be a plus-defender while continuing his growth as a shooter and rebounder, Redick might end up being right.

From talking to people around the team, it’s not going to be a matter of want to or work ethic. He’s fully bought into this opportunity.

Dalton Knecht

Dalton Knecht leaves the court after scoring 20 points in a Summer League game for the Lakers.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

23 years old, rookie

As a rule, you don’t draft a 23-year-old rookie to sit on the bench.

Knecht’s shooting is a skill the Lakers desperately need (last season, they were 24th in three-point shots made). And knowing Redick’s skills as a player combined with his analytical leanings, it’s a safe bet that this Lakers team is going to launch from deep.

Knecht is a scorer as much as he is a shooter, and there’s a real learning curve for players who get the ball taken out of their hands, disrupting rhythm. And while defenders in the NBA are way better than the ones he saw in college, Knecht should get better shots with teams locked in on the players around him.

With Cam Reddish battling an ankle injury and Jarred Vanderbilt still working his way back from offseason foot surgeries, there’s a wing spot open with Taurean Prince now in Milwaukee.

Jalen Hood-Schifino

21 years old, 21 career games

Now we’re getting somewhere interesting. The Lakers’ first-round pick from last year is a pretty big mystery heading into this season. He missed the start of the year last season because of knee problems, fell behind, struggled in the G League before taking off late in the G — until his season ended because of a back injury. In 15 games with South Bay, JHS averaged 22 points, 5.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds while making 43.2% on more than five threes attempted per game.

The big questions, minus the health ones, have to do with what kind of player we’re actually talking about here. Is he a scoring point guard? A playmaking two? An offensive organizer? And do any of those actually fit needs with the big club?

Whether it’s with the Lakers or as a potential trade chip, the team should be as invested in him as anyone this season, his development a key part of the club’s options.

Maxwell Lewis

22 years old, 34 career games

Lewis got some good reviews from the offseason work that followed a pretty uneven performance in the summer, where he sorta faded in and out of the picture. He’s got great NBA size for a wing and has added muscle to his frame, but like so many young players, he needs to understand and accept the NBA role that will get him on the floor.

Easier said than done.

Song of the Week

“Drive” by Incubus

Sometime last year, I set out to try and grab as many of the songs I used to listen to in my first two years of college, when everything was at our fingertips due to peer sharing for the first time in my life. And — I know this because it sounded great in the Netflix show “Beef” — “Drive” might hold up as well as any of the sad-sack rock I listened to from my dorm with my laptop connected to the stereo speakers. I get the rare treat this weekend of getting behind the wheel to go and cover some basketball so it felt right to salute Incubus — a sentence I didn’t think I’d ever get to write.

Let’s chat

Any other questions you might have about this offseason? Players you want to have me dig in on? Let me know. Email me at [email protected] with your questions and we’ll answer as many as we can next week.

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