A stable guard defender who can be an elite perimeter off-ball wing if he finds consistency on his shot, Christie was thought of as one of the best shooters in the class prior to his freshman season at Michigan State, making 40.7% of his threes on the Under Armour circuit in 2019 and 37% at the 2019 FIBA U16 Americas Tournament along with his untallied proficiency and confidence in shooting the three in high school. Christie has a history of shooting well and has good shooting indicators. He has a smooth shooting stroke, has been able to do it off-movement and has made 82.4% of his freethrows at Michigan State. These, along with the fact that 67% of his missed threes in February were short, have led scouts to believe that his last 16-game stretch where he went 11/46 from three that tanked his season percentage from 36.4% to 31.7% during February to March were due to the lack of power he generates on his release from his weak and fatigued lower body, not inconsistent mechanics. This could be solved on a team where he’ll be encouraged to gain more weight and a less important factor in a team where he’ll play less than 30 minutes a game which could result in him eventually finding better consistency on his shot and efficiency concerns being overblown. It is possible to see Christie make an early impact as an NBA role player on both ends of the floor. Christie has been effective as a corner floor spacer, hitting 38% of his corner threes in college, and usually swishes the most open looks he gets. The Michigan State offense didn’t heavily feature movement but Christie has displayed his ability to often be in the right place at the right time. His hustle was consistently present throughout my scouting process and is evident in him sprinting to the wings in transition, often being the first teammate to make himself available for an early kickout, as well as him trying to be a factor in the glass despite his lack of strength and athleticism. Some of his offensive rebounds have been putback dunks. Christie also relocates to spots where a pass to him is most convenient and he does a good job being visible on cuts when a lane is open for him and in dead spots on the 2-3 zone. Christie could also have plays drawn up for him. He is efficient off pindowns, being able to comfortably raise up and hit midrange jumpers against drop coverage or completely lose his defender chasing him by reusing the screen with a couple more dribbles after the catch. Christie was often assigned to defend the best perimeter player on the opposing team. He has good footwork, flexible hips and quick reaction time, making him able to slide with guards and wings 1v1 and cut off their drives. He has sound and consistent defensive positioning, having a straight back, bent knees and one hand high up, partially blocking his man’s vision. His stance also makes his body control excellent too. He is able to tightly stick with his man, wall up on decelerations and not fully launch himself towards his man when he forces the tougher turnaround jumper. He uses full advantage of his size and length (6’ 9” wingspan) and gives shooters impactful contests. Christie has also shown flashes of good team defense, rotating to open men nearer to the hoop or passer and helping to cut off drives when his teammate gets beat, but there were small situations that could be attributed to a lack of aggression and confidence in this defensive aspect where, although maintaining a sight of his man and not allowing cuts that would’ve made him a liability for these possessions, he needed to be the person initiating the double team or digging for the ball more but he didn’t. Having more defensive impact that directly translated into easy offense could make him the best defender he could realistically ever be. Christie’s ball handling and playmaking will still take a while to develop and could be unlocked by being more efficient as a finisher. Christie does not have the burst to take off far from the basket nor the strength to sustain contact. His timing is also not on point and he will often get his layup blocked. He has lost confidence on his finishing that he seemingly panics and wants to get rid of the ball quickly when he sees a second defender incoming, resulting in turnovers. He at least has a reliable enough midrange game and a balanced floater to punish defenders on careless closeouts. He can naturally go into his shot rhythm in the midrange, is patient finding his shot and uses his pivot foot well when a defender is able to stick to him and can hit shots fading away but adding strength and being an efficient finisher would still help open up most of his self-creation. There are plenty of shooting wings in this draft class that have shown better consistency than Christie but his steady effort in the break and on the boards, ability to defend the point-of-attack well, and upside to be a reliable self-creator separate him from the rest.
