4 Fringe Lakers players who deserve to return next season

Several rostered players were not heavy in the rotation, but deserve to have another shot with the Lakers in 2024-25.

With the Los Angeles Lakers looking ahead to next season, management will be assessing the roster to see which players still work as long-term fits, and which ones need to be moved in exchange for better fits for the team’s mission going forward.

Bear in mind that if LeBron James does indeed return, he will playing out the tail end of his career, with next season possibly even being his last. He will want to make sure the roster suits his desires and gives them what he believes to be their best chance at winning a championship.

With that in mind, the roster moves the Lakers make this summer may not necessarily make a ton of sense to outsiders. But there are certainly some players that were outside LA’s main rotation last season that deserve to come back for another shot.

1. Max Christie

One of those players is Max Christie. The Lakers’ 2022 draft selection was brought in with the understanding that it would take some time for him to develop. The front office liked his upside at both ends of the floor, and they invested in him as a prospect that could help LA in the near future.

Two years in, it does not seem that Christie has panned out quite as quickly as management may have initially hoped. Max has had his moments as an energy guy throughout the last couple of seasons, but he has spent a lot of time with the South Bay Lakers in the G League

As a result, we have not seen him afforded enough opportunity with the NBA club for us to truly say he is not ready. Christie’s upside is still exciting, and he deserves to come back, even if just on a one-year deal.

2. Harry Giles

Another name that can be intriguing for the Lakers going forward is Harry Giles. Now, some may be thinking this is a ridiculous assertion, as he only played seven games in a Laker uniform this past season. On top of that, he only scored one total made field goal. Judging by that, this guy should be out of the league soon, right?

Don’t be so sure. For those that do not know, Harry was once the top recruit in his high school class back in 2016. He was a stellar player, and after committing to Duke University, many believed he could be on his way to NBA stardom in short order.

Instead, what set him back was continued injury troubles. Tearing an ACL heading into his senior year of high school, Giles did not end up playing a full season in college. This came after ACL, MCL and meniscus injuries earlier in his high school career. Still, Harry was drafted and did not give up on his dream of playing in the NBA.

After playing for Sacramento and Portland, Harry took the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons off to focus on his health after recurring injuries. This past year, he finally made his comeback, and the Lakers should be eager to bring him back. Giles is too much of a wild card to simply toss aside.

3. Jalen Hood-Schifino

The Lakers’ first-round selection from 2023, Jalen Hood-Schifino is another player who has not had nearly enough time on the hardwood to shine and prove his worth to this organization. The Lakers being in a position where they are rather limited in terms of being comfortable playing any rookies extended minutes certainly played into this.

Jalen appeared in just 21 games for LA in 2023-24, playing only 5.2 minutes per contest. With that kind of opportunity, it is no surprise that his counting stats were a little lacking in his first professional season. Some appear ready to give up on Hood-Schifino after just one year, but that would be rather foolish.

The young point guard has exceptional poise with the ball in his hands and is confident in his own shot-creation abilities as well. When he gets a more consistent role for the Lakers, there should be no doubt he will look much better and make it obvious why LA chose to take him with a mid-first round pick.

Giving up on Kobe Bryant after he airballed those shots in the playoffs in the late 90s would not have been smart either, would it? Similarly, JHS is a player the Lakers should 100% still be looking at as a top prospect for their point guard of the future.

4. Maxwell Lewis

The second rookie on our list, Maxwell Lewis appeared in 34 games for the Lakers this year. However, when he did get on the floor, he was earning even less minutes per night than Jalen Hood-Schifino. Maxwell played just 3.0 minutes on average in his first season in the NBA.

Once again, that makes it somewhat hard to evaluate what exactly he brings to the table and how valuable he should be considered moving forward. One thing we know for certain is that Lewis has good size at 6-foot-7 and his ability to play as a wing can give him tremendous upside in a league as versatile as the NBA.

Like Hood-Schifino, Lewis spent a good amount of time this past season with the South Bay Lakers. There, he really impressed with his scoring ability and seemed to operate smoothly within the flow of the game at both ends of the floor.

There is hardly anything from the NBA side of things from this past season that says Maxwell is a surefire future rotation player. But the Lakers took a chance on him for a reason, and there is also no sense in giving up this fast. LA would do best to bring him back for at least the 2024-25 season as well.