3. Malik Monk
In a recent interview, Malik Monk mentioned that it put fuel in his tank when the Lakers were the only team to offer him a contract this past offseason. That is why he ended up settling for the veteran minimum and he has proved to be the biggest bargain and best offseason signing for the Lakers this season.
He has definitely outperformed that one-year $1.8 million deal so far this season with his ability to shoot and score in a multitude of ways. Playing alongside LeBron has seemingly come natural to him, and he is one of the only Lakers outside the big three who has shown he can generate his own offense while none of the stars are on the floor.
Charlotte used the 11th overall pick in 2017 to draft him and he struggled to find minutes there, in Los Angeles he has flipped the script and is having the best season of his career. He is averaging over six minutes more than any other season in his career, and his averages of 12.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, are also all career bests for him.
Considering how well he has played this season and that he is still only 24 years old, he could be the most valuable trade asset the Lakers currently possess.
Dealing him for any player straight up makes no sense for the Lakers because they would not be able to get back anyone on a veteran minimum that is as good as Monk. However, he could be included in a multi-player deal to sweeten it.
A couple of arguments to make a Monk trade could point to his lack of size and strength on defense. The Lakers are also unlikely to keep Monk next season because he is on a one-year deal and is likely to get bigger offers elsewhere.
The reasons to keep Monk are that he is one of the only young players on the Lakers so they would be making their age issues worse by dealing him. He is also possibly their best pure shooter, and the Lakers need as much shooting as they can get at the end of this season.
In this case, the arguments to keep Monk clearly outweigh the ones to trade him.