Around the NBA 11

[Diop]

[euphorbus]

It turns out that I was not the only person greatly puzzled by the Hornets' use of Malik Monk last season:

https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/news-is-way-can-snatch-guy-roster-lebron-james-reveals-la-lakers-wanted-malik-monk-roster-last-season

In the end, LA was the only team to really express interest after Charlotte let him go:

https://lakersnation.com/malik-monk-opens-up-about-difficult-2021-free-agency-process-where-nobody-really-wanted-me-besides-lakers/2022/01/03/

I have always felt that NBA teams are cliquish and not very objective when evaluating talent.

[Diop]

Getting busted for drugs wouldn’t have helped his value. I think it was the right decision for monk to move on. Best for everyone.

[Soul Rebel]

Read on Twitter

Intriguing. Not my first choice, but curious if his act would mesh with our current roster.

[JMAC3]

Read on Twitter

Intriguing. Not my first choice, but curious if his act would mesh with our current roster.

PLEASE. He is skilled enough to not look out of place with Melo but also big enough to give us a paint presence vs Jokic, Embiid and Giannis.

[luciano-davidwesley]

Read on Twitter

Intriguing. Not my first choice, but curious if his act would mesh with our current roster.

PLEASE. He is skilled enough to not look out of place with Melo but also big enough to give us a paint presence vs Jokic, Embiid and Giannis.

At vet min what do we have to lose? Might have to cut someone is the only consideration.

[Diop]

Ayton and McGee coming back but Jalen Smith deserves time at centre. They have a tough decision coming up

[penquin11]

over the last 10 games Malik Monk has been putting up star numbers. 21ppg on 56% fg with 45% coming from 3 and 90% from the line. He still is basically irrelevant in the passing and rebounding games- but his scoring as a second option and outlet pass guy has become the lifeline that the Lebron lead Lakers are rallying around on their 4 game win streak. If those shooting numbers aren't just a localized fluke then Monk is going to be shooting the ball far more often- something we have started to see happen over his last 3 games. Monk may have just had the revelation that takes him from role player to legit star- granted he isn't exactly a shot creator but he is straight up making shots in guys faces right now. It's just so charlotte to watch a guy struggle like hell to figure out himself on our team, then leave and become something for another team.

[Snidely FC]

over the last 10 games Malik Monk has been putting up star numbers. 21ppg on 56% fg with 45% coming from 3 and 90% from the line. He still is basically irrelevant in the passing and rebounding games- but his scoring as a second option and outlet pass guy has become the lifeline that the Lebron lead Lakers are rallying around on their 4 game win streak. If those shooting numbers aren't just a localized fluke then Monk is going to be shooting the ball far more often- something we have started to see happen over his last 3 games. Monk may have just had the revelation that takes him from role player to legit star- granted he isn't exactly a shot creator but he is straight up making shots in guys faces right now. It's just so charlotte to watch a guy struggle like hell to figure out himself on our team, then leave and become something for another team.

Monk was a terrible decision maker in CHA, on and off the court. To his credit he's learning and performing alongside one of the greatest players of all time. He was always going to look better alongside Lebron. Good riddance and good luck

LeBron James and Malik Monk, helping each other - Zach Lowe
One cool NBA thing is when James develops profound trust in some unknown journeyman.

It happened with Alex Caruso, and it's happening again with Monk in a pick-and-roll partnership that works regardless of who has the ball and who sets the screen.

The wing-point guard pick-and-roll has long been a key postseason weapon -- the mismatch-generator when all else fails. James and Kyrie Irving formed perhaps the best-ever such tag team. There is no real answer for any James two-man game with a smaller guard who can shoot, dribble, and pass. Monk can't do those things on Irving's level, but he's good enough to work with James -- the superstar who amplifies everyone around him.

Going under James' screens for Monk is dicey. Chase Monk over the pick, and you turn James into the league's most dangerous rim-runner. James can pop for 3s too. The Lakers have been smart clearing one side of the floor when Monk is the ball handler; Monk did well out of that action in Charlotte.

Switch, and you're toast; James beasts little guys in the post -- or rains 3s over them. Rearrange your lineups, and James goes mismatch-hunting elsewhere.

It's tempting to suggest ducking Monk's picks for James when they reverse roles, but that's easier in theory than it is on the floor. James is a good jump-shooter. He's still a menace going downhill; if he beats you to the other side of Monk's pick by an inch, it's over.

Double James, and Monk can flare for 3s or slip into space.

He punishes aggressive rotations with passes or drives.

The Lakers have scored 1.37 points per chance whenever Monk screens for James -- third among 499 duos who have run at least 40 pick-and-rolls, per Second Spectrum. The photo negative -- James screening for Monk -- ranks 16th among those 499 combos: 1.22 points per chance.

More Monk-James was a natural outgrowth of the Lakers playing without any big man. What happens when Anthony Davis returns? Davis is the Lakers' primary screen-setter. If he's not doing that, he might hang around the paint -- mucking up James' path to the rim. Postseason offenses will target Monk on the other end.

Regardless, there will be room for the James-Monk dance. The Lakers' minimum-signing spree hasn't yielded what the team hoped -- getting zero from Kent Bazemore is a disaster -- but Monk has been tremendous.

[tondi123]

That's the risk of drafting teenagers. When you have to make a decision about a second contract most of them are still developing and difficult to tell which direction they are headed. I'd have loved to seen the light come on for him here but its hard to fault us for not wanting to move on from him based on what he had shown during his time here. Having said that, he had some nice stretches with us as well but couldn't sustain it so guess we will see if this is sustainable.

[euphorbus]

This is always who Malik Monk was. Steve Clifford tried to turn him into a point guard to back up Kemba Walker, then yanked him every time he made a defensive mistake, as if passing and defense were his calling cards at Kentucky. Coach Borrego barely had a clue.

Fortunately, the fans in LA love the guy as much as (most of) the fans in Charlotte hate him. He is even more exciting and dynamic than in the last two years in Charlotte. Yes, it helps to play with LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. It helps even more to have coaches like Frank Vogel and David Fizdale, the latter of whom inserted Monk in the starting lineup and gave him some freedom.

If he stays healthy, Monk could be in line for Most Improved Player.

[HornetJail]

Monk blowing up on the Lakers is literally the least shocking thing imaginable

[Braggins]

Monk was a terrible decision maker in CHA, on and off the court. To his credit he's learning and performing alongside one of the greatest players of all time. He was always going to look better alongside Lebron. Good riddance and good luck

He cleaned up his act after the drug thing almost ruined his career and his on-court decision making was already clearly improving last season. He looked good here last year playing with LaMelo too, despite never getting back to 100% physically last season due to covid, so its not like it wasn't already obvious that he was poised to somewhat break out if he continued to stay focused and make the right decisions.

[Braggins]

This is always who Malik Monk was. Steve Clifford tried to turn him into a point guard to back up Kemba Walker, then yanked him every time he made a defensive mistake, as if passing and defense were his calling cards at Kentucky. Coach Borrego barely had a clue.

Fortunately, the fans in LA love the guy as much as (most of) the fans in Charlotte hate him. He is even more exciting and dynamic than in the last two years in Charlotte. Yes, it helps to play with LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. It helps even more to have coaches like Frank Vogel and David Fizdale, the latter of whom inserted Monk in the starting lineup and gave him some freedom.

If he stays healthy, Monk could be in line for Most Improved Player.

This season hes basically just continuing to do what he was already doing last season in terms of his outside shooting prowess, but now hes got his full athleticism back and is also scoring efficiently inside the arc as well like we saw him do before covid. The frustrating part for me is that everything hes doing in LA right now he showed in Charlotte and there were a few of us pointing out that he was trending in a good direction and the possibility of him combining his pre-covid athleticism with his shooting finally being dialed in and up to expectations, gave him some nice breakout potential. Borrego's staff put in all the work and did a good job developing him and then the franchise gave up on him as soon as the effort started to pay off and LA is reaping all the reward, which I find pretty frustrating considering how little it would have cost to keep him around for another year to see if he was going to keep his head on straight. Hes a nice 3rd guard at the very least and hes a perfect fit to be the successor for Roziers role.

[yosemiteben]

Monk is like a shorter KO. He needed a new scene and I think the FO and coaching staff were over being his babysitter.

[SWedd523]

I'm not going to read too much into Monk putting up numbers when half the league is out, teams are rotating 10day contracts, and random bums are doing crazy things.

Kelly has been everything we wanted Monk to be and then some.

[fatlever]

I'll be curious to see if monk can hang if Lakers make it deep in playoffs. Make or break. If he can, then it's huge steal for them.

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

[JDR720]

Monk blowing up was very predictable. He's not a bad player, he was just inconsistent. He outlived his welcome here and was behind Rozier and Gordon in the pecking order. So we let him leave.

But picking Rozier over him and giving him that big contract will probably bite us. Ideally, Bouknight will turn into a 15/5/5 player too and then we can trade Rozier for something.

[BigSlam]

Cousins to the Nuggets on a 10 day.

[Diop]

Biz got his season contract just as the other centres come back and will watch from the bench. Sort of pointless really.