With the 46th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Clippers have selected Cam Christie, an 18 year old, 6’6 190 pound wing from the University of Minnesota.
The most notable thing about Christie is his age. You read that right – Christie does not turn 19 years old until July 24. He played just a single season at Minnesota, where he started 26 of 33 games, played 30.6 minutes, and averaged 11.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.6 steals per game. He rated fairly well in my stats model.
The most notable element of Christie is his three-point shooting. He took 5.4 threes per game (high volume for college) and made them at a 39.1% clip. He mostly took the threes off the catch, not the dribble, but he did make some pull-ups, and is already comfortable shooting off movement. Guys his size who shoot at that rate are interesting at the NBA level, especially when they are still teenagers.
That said, nothing else about Christie’s game is truly NBA ready (which is fine for an 18 year old in the mid second round). He’s not a good rebounder, and shot a putrid 42% on two-pointers. He doesn’t get to the rim, and when he does get there the results are not good. As Christie bulks up that should improve a bit. He also had an extremely, extremely low steal rate, which is a bit worrisome. On the plus side, an assist to turnover ratio of 2.2:1.2 for a young off-ball wing shows some signs of smart decision-making.
Overall, this is not who I would have drafted, but Christie is an interesting flier on a very young player with a useful NBA skill. Whether he can flesh out the rest of his game to complement his shooting is the question, and he will probably be mostly in the G-League his rookie season.
A side note: the Clippers have also signed, per Law Murray, Trentyn Flowers, a 19 year old who played in the NBL in Australia this past season. He’s also more of a shooter, but less developed than Christie. Overall, it’s interesting that the Clippers have brought on two teenagers and not more NBA ready players.
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