1. Malik Monk
Malik Monk has been the best part of the Los Angeles Lakers this season. Monk was signed as a minimum contract guy after everyone else in the league passed on him and he is showing that the rest of the league made a mistake. While not the best defender, Monk is making his mark as a microwave scorer from beyond the arc.
Monk is playing so well that he is playing up his value as well, which could be a problem for the Lakers as the most they could offer him is the Taxpayer’s Mid-Level Exception worth $5.9 million. While that seems far too cheap for Monk, his agent said that he will hopefully be a Laker forever, so perhaps the team gets a discount.
The Lakers simply cannot afford to lose Monk, especially with the relationship that he has built with LeBron James. The team has already foolish let other key players like Alex Caruso walk and if Monk is willing to take a pay cut and the Lakers don’t sign him then it would be an absolute disgrace.
If Monk gets an offer that is twice the size from another team and simply cannot say no to it then you cannot really blame him, either. Who is going to turn down a multi-year deal that might pay him $10+ million a year just to come back to LA on a one-year deal?
Hopefully he does not get offers that are that high so he can stay in LA.