MSU’s Max Christie Declares For NBA Draft
Via his Instagram account, Michigan State men's basketball guard Max Christie (pictured vs. Duke in the NCAA Tournament) has declared for June's NBA Draft.
Christie becomes the third Spartan player to declare for the Draft since the NCAA Tournament run ended. Seniors frontcourt men Gabe Brown and Marcus Bingham have both declared for the Draft.
Here's the Instagram post from Christie:
As a true freshmen, Christie averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 rebounds a game in 35 games played. He was the team's second leading scorer behind Gabe Brown. His highest point game of the season was 21 points against Nebraska in January 5th.
Christie had been rated as high as ninth in some mock NBA Draft boards back in January, including nbadraft.net. But he slipped to later in the first round after struggling offensively later on in the season.
By making the announcement the way he did, he can retain his college eligibility and return to Michigan State if he doesn't like where he's going to be drafted . The deadline for college basketball players to declare for the NBA Draft is April 24th. The deadline for college players who have declared for the Draft but decide to return to school is June 1st.
Other Big Ten players who have declared for the NBA Draft so far are: Iowa's Keegan Murray, Ohio State's E.J. Liddell, Purdue stars Jaden Ivey and Trevion Williams, Big Ten Player of the Year Johnny Davis, and Michigan's DeVante Jones.
There is no word as to whether Michigan center Hunter Dickinson will declare or not. He declared for the Draft last season, but returned to school.