2. Malik Monk
Out of all the players that the Los Angeles Lakers signed this offseason the one that is getting overlooked the most is Malik Monk. The Lakers were somehow able to land Monk on a minimum deal, mostly because he was hurt last season.
If you would have told me that the Lakers signed Monk for the minimum I would have called you crazy. That is exceptional value for that contract and Monk is really going to blossom on one of the league’s premier teams next season.
Monk’s defense is suspect so he might have a limited role in certain circumstances but his scoring ability off the bench and the ability to be a microwave scorer is going to be huge for the Lakers. I legitimately expect Monk to be the fourth-highest scoring player on the Lakers roster over Carmelo Anthony.
Monk has been coming into his own and has gotten better year after year in the league. He did not live up to the expectations of being a lottery pick early on but he really started to blossom into a legitimate scorer, especially last season.
Monk shot above 40% from beyond the arc last season and averaged 11.7 points in 20.9 minutes per game. If the Lakers get 12 points a night on 21 minutes from Monk next season that will be huge. If he plays 25 minutes he could easily average over 15 points per game.
Monk is going to establish himself as a legitimate rotation scorer on a contender team next season, increasing his free-agent value substantially next offseason.