Malik Monk is one of the Lakers’ latest additions in an offseason that continues to be great for LeBron James, but bad for Michael Jordan.
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It’s truly a tale of small markets vs big markets as far as free agent destinations in the offseason go. The Lakers traded a bit of depth in Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for Russell Westbrook.
But it seems that by investing in Malik Monk, they’ve made up for a big part of the lost rotation depth. Monk was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 2017 with some really high expectations.
He took a couple of years to learn his ropes and understand how to consistently be an impactful playmaker. Monk was the Hornets’ best player off the bench once LaMelo Ball was moved into the starting lineup last season.
Former Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak seems to not be greatly invested in the high-flying guard despite his career year. The Hornets do have a problem with minutes at the guard position though, and perhaps Rob Pelinka offered him a bigger role.
Many 4th year players have been known to bet on themselves by taking less money to play in winning situations. It seems that Monk has made the same decision to advance his career.
“Is Michael Jordan’s loss LeBron James’ gain?”: NBA fans react to Malik Monk becoming a Laker
The Lakers have been active participants in the free agency process thus far. The likes of Alex Caruso, Andre Drummond and Dennis Schroder seem to be on the way out.
Meanwhile, they’ve signed Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard, Wayne Ellington, Carmelo Anthony and now Malik Monk in free agency. This helps them fill out their roster spots with fresh, and likely hungry faces alongside their existing players.
NBA Twitter had a wide range of reactions to this development.
Also Read – “How much help does LeGM need?”: NBA fans react to Carmelo Anthony joining LeBron James on the Lakers
