Malik Monk has simply been a revelation this season for the Los Angeles Lakers.
He signed a one-year deal last summer for the minimum, but he has definitely outplayed his contract. The fifth-year guard is averaging 13.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 47.1% overall and 39.9% from deep. All of those except the 3-point percentage would be career-highs if the season ended today.
But his production, ironically, hurts the Lakers. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, making it difficult to retain him because the Lakers don’t have much cap space. The best L.A. can offer is $6.3 million, which is the MLE.
In a new feature from Jovan Buha of The Athletic, Monk expressed his desire to stay in L.A. beyond this season:
Monk admits his mind has wandered to the future. He loves the Lakers organization, his coaches and teammates and Los Angeles. His preference is to make the Lakers his long-term home, if possible.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look at my future with anything,” Monk said. “I love it here. I’d love to play here again, man. But you never know what’s gonna happen with the NBA. You never know what happens. It’s a business, at the end of the day. But I’d definitely love to play here.
“But I don’t know. It’s hard to call the future.”
Monk’s agent, Marcus, who is also Monk’s brother, had this to say about Malik’s future:
“It seems like the outside world talks about it more than he does,” Marcus said. “He never brings it up. Like, dude just wanna win games for the Los Angeles Lakers right now. And he’s focused on doing what he has to do to be on that floor and to win those games. …
“He’s very appreciative of what the Lakers have done and what they are doing. And he works for the Los Angeles Lakers. And for him to be thinking anything beyond that and trying to help this team win, it wouldn’t be fair to them for believing in him. So I don’t even have those conversations with him. …
“Right now, he’s a Laker. And hopefully, he’ll be a Laker forever.”
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