positive: he seems to love it here negative: he seems to be tight with lebron, who increasingly doesn't love it here
I could be wrong, but I think you may be over estimating LeBron’s player gravity powers currently. He hasn’t been healthy for an entire season since coming here, he will be turning 38 years old next season, and won’t commit long term to anyone until he knows where Bronny is going.
Malik Monk isn’t thinking of any of that. To him, Lebron is a superhero who he grew up idolizing. A superhero who recruited him to LA and believed in him for years, now resulting in the best shine he’s had on him in his career. And Malik is directly witnessing Lebron still be great. If there is any chance we retain Malik with our limited financial options, Lebron is going to be a big reason for that.
right. i've argued in other threads that i think lebron's cache is slipping, inside and outside of our organization. but players will still want to play with him. and monk invokes him with reverence, which is our immediate issue. in truth, i like monk as much as everyone else, but if we can't keep him, it's not the end of the world. in fact, if lebron goes, i'm not sure monk's a priority anymore anyway. he's a sixth man type who can play off great players as a starter or put on scoring displays against opposing benches. so i guess maybe this is all good news, because it seems like if lebron is here, we have a shot at retaining monk for cheaper next year. and if not, i'm not sure how much it matters, as we'll likely either have the money to pay him or we'll be able to pay someone else who can bring similar things to the table.
Monk has been a pleasant surprise in what has been a disappointing season. What goes unnoticed is his passing ability. There’s no doubt in my mind that he could average 6-7 assists per game if he wanted to.
yeah, but he's not a super strong ballhandler. did you see mitchell just lock him up in iso? that's why he's not a star. well, that and size/strength. but he's athletic and can shoot it and make some plays when he gets downhill on the pick and roll. he's a good player who's probably worth about the full MLE. maybe a bit more, but i don't think anyone offers that.
His spacing is crucial to our offense. He opens things up for everyone and he can put it on the floor as well.
media buzzards at it again. remember when THT was going to get 4/80 from multiple suitors this time last year? https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33513262/why-malik-monk-too-good-los-angeles-lakers
Most telling quotation from that article: "S---, everything," Monk says. "Ups and downs. Rookie wall. Older guys yelling at the rookies because it's their fault. Everything they do, it's your fault out there because they know everything and you don't and when you mess up, you just got to take it. You got to deal with things like that. I talk to Austin almost every day." Anyone who has even casually watched an LAL game has seen that.
i actually feel strangely confident we'll find a way to keep him. we'll see, though, lots will happen this offseason.
$5m we can do and should IF we clear some of the salaries at guard and can address other roster holes in the process.
sounds right to me. if nobody comes with a full MLE offer involving back end player options, i think we can keep him on the same deal we offered nunn last year. i really don't see teams using space to get him unless it's a very short-term deal, which is unlikely in itself (1/15 for monk is something a contender with money to burn does, and those don't currently exist, i don't think).
Malik can shoot. Never had a clue on what to do on defense , but perhaps Vogel's "system" was too complicated. He may benefit from a coaching change too.
