There hasn’t been a lot to get excited about in regards to the 2021-22 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers. However, one of the bright spots this season is the performance of shooting guard, Malik Monk.
Monk was the No. 11 overall pick out of Kentucky by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2017 NBA Draft. He surprised a lot of people when he signed a veteran’s minimum contract with the Lakers last offseason after the Hornets didn’t offer him an extension.
Many people thought he would sign for at least a mid-level exception, but he thought Los Angeles was the best spot for him. He proved to correct in that statement, as he is having an excellent season with the Lakers.
Monk is putting up career-high numbers across the board. He is averaging 13 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 27.1 minutes per game. This is the best shooting season of his career, as he is making 47.1 percent of his shots overall and connecting on 39.9 percent of his 3-point attempts.
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He was beginning to turn the corner last season but has figured it out with the Lakers this season. The team isn’t doing as much winning as he likely hoped, but he has to be happy about the progress he has made rounding out his game.
With free agency looming again, Malik Monk recently spoke to The Athletic and opened up about his future. He isn’t sure what will happen down the road but knows that he loves being a Laker.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look at my future with anything,” Monk told Jovan Buha of The Athletic in an exclusive interview. “I love it here. I’d love to play here again, man. But you never know what’s gonna happen with the NBA. You never know what happens. It’s a business, at the end of the day. But I’d definitely love to play here. But I don’t know. It’s hard to call the future.”
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While Monk loves playing in Los Angeles, as he mentions, at the end of the day, this is a business. He took a massive pay cut to play with them this season and rehab his value. His value has certainly increased and he very well could have priced himself out of Los Angeles as a result.
Since Monk is hitting free agency after only one season with the Los Angeles Lakers, they only have his Non-Bird Rights. That means a team can go above the salary cap to retain said play, but they are limited to giving him a 20 percent raise. That would mean the most Monk can get from the Lakers is $2.15 million in free agency.
It would be shocking if a team doesn’t come around and offer more money than that given the season that he is having. Alas, if Monk wants to remain in Los Angeles bad enough, there are routes he and the team could take to increase his salary for next season, which would kick in Early Bird Rights or full Bird Rights depending on the length of the deal.
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If two sides are motivated enough to want to get something done, they will find a compromise that works for everyone. However, no one would blame Malik Monk if he took a bigger deal this offseason from another team instead of waiting another season or two to cash in with the Los Angeles Lakers.
