Lakers news: Anthony Davis praises Malik Monk’s first game in action

Anthony Davis offered praise for Malik Monk’s debut with the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the preseason.

Malik Monk made his preseason debut with the Los Angeles Lakers, and it was definitely one to remember.

The 23-year-old guard came off the bench for 21 minutes, mostly in the second and third quarters, and dropped in 15 points to lead the team in scoring.

He made 6-of-12 field goals, including a 3-of-6 clip from deep; he was 3-of-4 at one point but missed his last two off-balanced attempts.

Among the players who stepped onto the court, Monk had the most notable night, especially considering the starting shooting guard battle going on.

After the game, Anthony Davis offered praise for Monk’s first game (h/t: Mike Trudell of the Lakers and Spectrum SportsNet):

The next game for the Lakers is on Oct. 6 at 3 p.m. PT against the Phoenix Suns. It’ll be interesting to see Monk’s spot in the rotation during that contest.

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3 goals for Lakers’ Malik Monk for the 2021-22 season

Where does Malik Monk need to improve to stand out for the Los Angeles Lakers?

Most of the signings by the Los Angeles Lakers involved veterans past their prime, but Malik Monk was an exception.

After spending the last four seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, Monk entered free agency because he was the odd guard out on the roster.

This past season, he averaged career highs in points per game (11.7) and 3-point percentage (40.1%), which makes him an intriguing prospect for the Lakers to develop.

He’s still just 23 years old and is one of the youngest players on the roster alongside the 20-year-old Talen Horton-Tucker.

Monk signed a one-year deal for the minimum, which caught many off guard, but if he can continue to increase his efficiency alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, he’ll turn out to be good value.

Here are three goals for Monk to strive for this season:

The Athletic gives Lakers’ offseason a B+ grade

The Los Angeles Lakers received a B-plus grade from The Athletic on their offseason moves.

The Los Angeles Lakers had one of the busiest offseasons of any team this summer in what was a major overhaul of the roster.

Los Angeles had over 10 free agents entering the market this summer, but the number of open roster spots increased when L.A. traded for Russell Westbrook.

The Lakers’ biggest moves financially were re-signing Talen Horton-Tucker to a three-year deal worth over $30 million and giving the full taxpayer MLE to Kendrick Nunn.

All of the other signings were minimum deals for one year. They went to Carmelo Anthony, Malik Monk, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo and DeAndre Jordan.

Zach Harper of The Athletic gave the Lakers a B-plus for all of the moves in the series of team grades Harper has been doing for each NBA team. Here is what Harper said on if the Lakers improved from last year’s squad:

“The Lakers definitely got better from a talent standpoint, even though they lost a lot with their wing core. Especially after last season, the addition of Westbrook into the group provides a lot of relief. Sure, it might not fit together perfectly, and the issue of spacing will be there, but having three superstars affords the Lakers something we saw with Brooklyn a year ago. With three superstars on the roster, you can lose one guy and be fine. You can lose two guys and keep your head above water. Last season, the Lakers lost one guy and managed to keep things good enough — until they lost the other star. With the way Westbrook played for Washington a year ago, add that guy into the Lakers mix, and we don’t see them dip all the way down to the Play-In Tournament. They likely survive things and create an easier path for the playoffs, and maybe Davis doesn’t get hurt trying to do too much at that point. Nothing happens in a vacuum. That third-star balance alone makes the Lakers better than they were last season. We just have to see how it fits and if that fit puts them in the driver’s seat for the NBA title.”

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WATCH: Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk train with Lakers’ Phil Handy

See new Los Angeles Lakers guards Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn work on their dribbling with assistant coach Phil Handy.

The Los Angeles Lakers will have two fresh young guards in the backcourt next season in Kendrick Nunn and Malik Monk.

Nunn, 26, arrived in Los Angeles on a two-year deal worth the full taxpayer MLE, so he represents L.A.’s biggest signing from free agency who wasn’t a Laker previously; he broke out with the Miami Heat the last two seasons.

Monk, 23, came to L.A. on a one-year deal for the minimum after being the odd man out on the Charlotte Hornets roster.

Both have plenty of promise to boost Los Angeles’ offensive production next season, especially considering their abilities to hit 3-pointers in various ways to keep defenses honest.

As the two prepare for what should be a busy season, they’re already in the gym putting work in with Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy (h/t SHOWTIME FORUM):

Handy has been involved in workouts for other Lakers throughout the offseason. He worked out Talen Horton-Tucker and recording artist J. Cole earlier in the summer and Carmelo Anthony recently.

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Lakers’ Malik Monk explains excitement about playing alongside Anthony Davis

Los Angeles Lakers guard Malik Monk had high praise for Anthony Davis.

There is plenty of anticipation about how Malik Monk will play this upcoming season as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Monk signed a one-year deal for the minimum after the Charlotte Hornets parted ways with the four-year veteran.

Charlotte drafted Monk as a lottery pick in the 2017 NBA draft, but Monk didn’t break out until last season; by then, however, it was too late.

The Hornets had guard LaMelo Ball take over and new rookie James Bouknight pushed Monk further out of the equation.

The 23-year-old guard averaged career highs in points per game (11.7) and 3-point percentage (40.1%) last season, providing hope for the Lakers that he’ll be even better alongside LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.

Monk, who said he’s excited to play alongside James, is also eager for the minutes shared with Davis.

“He’s a big man that can play guard, and he can guard one through five, too, as well, so if LeBron is not the biggest part, AD probably is,” Monk said. “AD is one of the biggest parts of this team, and what can’t he do? I’m just looking forward to it, super excited.”

Monk, who played collegiate basketball at Kentucky like Davis did, discussed how that connection plays a role.

“Everybody from Kentucky knows everybody, at least they tried to come back when I was in school to play with us or just talk to us, so we all talked before,” Monk said.

It’s unclear whether Monk will start given his ability to knock down 3-pointers in different ways, but the 23-year-old guard should receive solid playing time, especially if he can hold his own defensively.

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ESPN gives Lakers a ‘C’ grade for offseason moves

The Los Angeles Lakers barely passed their offseason test, according to an ESPN analyst.

If the Los Angeles Lakers wanted to return to the NBA Finals during the LeBron James-Anthony Davis championship window, moves had to be made following last season’s rough first-round elimination.

The central move L.A. made was acquiring Russell Westbrook, and a sweetener of three future second-round picks, from the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and their 2021 first-round pick.

Westbrook’s fit on paper is the lingering question mark that will remain throughout the regular season unless it’s proven he can coexist alongside James and Davis while staying efficient.

Since landing Westbrook limited Los Angeles’ free-agency spending power even further, the rest of the roster needed to be filled out through veteran minimum deals.

The Lakers accomplished that by adding numerous veterans who had either represented the purple and gold in the past or are doing it for the first time to help win a ring. Names like Carmelo Anthony, Malik Monk and Wayne Ellington are new to the franchise while Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza and more are beloved for previous contributions.

Kendrick Nunn marked L.A.’s most expensive signing, as he received the full taxpayer MLE of $5.9 million for two years; Talen Horton-Tucker’s three-year extension worth over $30 million tops that, but he was already on the roster.

All these moves rounded out L.A.’s busy offseason, which doesn’t include the shuffling of the coaching staff.

ESPN has been grading the moves made by teams, and according to Kevin Pelton, the Lakers got a “C”:

“As long as Anthony Davis and LeBron James stay healthy, the Lakers look like the favorites to win the West. But it’s unclear their offseason moves improved their chances of getting back to the NBA Finals after last season’s first-round exit. In Russell Westbrook, the Lakers added a singular talent to help carry the load during the regular season, but they’ll have to work around his shooting limitations in a playoff setting.

The Lakers did well to replace the depth lost in the Westbrook trade with a series of veterans minimum signings as well as the value pickup of Kendrick Nunn using the taxpayer midlevel exception. Still, the Lakers don’t have as many reliable two-way contributors around their stars as in 2020, when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green played those roles during their title run.”

The biggest takeaways from Pelton’s analysis hammer what the primary consensus is of Westbrook’s addition. He’s a poor shooter the farther away he is from the rim, which exacerbates the floor-spacing concerns L.A. needed to resolve.

And despite the signings being good offensive players, it’s plausible the defense, which was No. 1 in the league last year, will plunge. The Lakers could use Kent Bazemore in the role Caldwell-Pope and Green had in previous years, but all the other guards have notable defensive weaknesses.

For the new forwards, Anthony hasn’t been a plus defender in recent seasons, and it’ll be interesting to see how Ariza’s mobility holds up this year. He used to have the ability to guard faster players, but as his legs accumulate more mileage, he primarily matches up against bigger forwards now.

The talent on the roster is undeniable, but the Lakers need to prove they can assemble the pieces for a title run.

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Malik Monk explains why he signed with Lakers in free agency

Newly signed guard Malik Monk detailed the factors that went into his decision to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Most of the signings in free agency by the Los Angeles Lakers revolved around long-time veterans agreeing to veteran minimum deals.

Players like Carmelo Anthony, Wayne Ellington, Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore, who are all over the age of 30, signed one-year deals for the minimum to compete for a championship.

The Lakers were squeezed financially, so convincing players to sign on cheap deals was a necessary tactic, as team owner Jeanie Buss described.

But an outlier in the pack of minimum deals was Malik Monk, the 23-year-old guard from the Charlotte Hornets.

The 11th overall pick in 2017 broke out in his fourth season with the team, but it didn’t come fast enough as Charlotte had too many talented guards on the depth chart, forcing Monk as the odd man out.

Los Angeles picked up Monk on a one-year minimum deal, which could become the best value signing of the summer. Monk detailed the factors that led to his decision to sign with L.A.

“The environment, man,” Monk said. “And this organization, and all the knowledge that I’ll learn. How to be a pro, how to work, how to work smarter and just how to be a man too, as well.”

Monk mentioned how he’s still young and could absorb what the veterans know on and off the court.

“I’m still learning, I’m still going through life, too,” Monk said. “I’m 23. So these guys have been doing it a long longer, and so I can ask lot of questions and I can learn. Not just about being on the basketball court but off the court as well. That was the biggest thing.”

Monk made noise last season by averaging 11.7 points, converting on 43.4 percent of his shots on 9.5 attempts and shooting 40.1 percent from deep on 5.0 attempts; all numbers are career-highs.

A one-year deal for Monk is essentially a chance for him to prove last season wasn’t a fluke and land a better payday next offseason. Playing alongside LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis should give Monk numerous opportunities to leave his imprint.

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Lakers’ Malik Monk explains excitement about playing with LeBron James

New Los Angeles Lakers guard Malik Monk is looking forward to playing with LeBron James.

The Los Angeles Lakers will look completely different on opening night as a batch of new players enter the fold.

Some of the prominent names donning the purple and gold next season are Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Kendrick Nunn. The latter signed for the mid-level exception (MLE), so he’s the most expensive signing for L.A. this summer.

Another name to watch is Malik Monk, who is coming from the Charlotte Hornets after four seasons.

Charlotte drafted Monk with the No. 11 pick in the 2017 NBA draft, but he didn’t make strides until his final year, By then, it was too late because the Hornets had a crowded backcourt led by LaMelo Ball.

Now that Monk has a new change of scenery, he could make a name for himself with the talent he’s playing with.

Monk explained why he’s amped to play with LeBron James, and how that’ll help his offensive game, via Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet:

Monk has been known for his scoring ability since coming out of college, but he was largely inefficient with the Hornets for his first three seasons, though the talent around him wasn’t as stout as it’ll be in L.A.

Last year with an improved Hornets squad, Monk averaged career-high numbers in points per game (11.7) and 3-point percentage (40.1, 5.0 attempts). He can hit shots off the bounce, too, which is a skill the Lakers need from their reserves, especially if James is on the bench.

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Bleacher Report names Lakers a winner in 2021 free agency

The Los Angeles Lakers received praise from Bleacher Report for the business it’s done so far in free agency.

The Los Angeles Lakers have had one of the busiest offseasons this summer in terms of roster moves.

When the Lakers traded for star guard Russell Westbrook, the roster was trimmed to five players, though Alfonzo McKinnie is now waived. The Lakers needed to sign about 10 players through free agency to complete the 15-man squad.

Los Angeles didn’t have financial flexibility this summer to acquire the prominent names available in the free-agent class besides a $5.9 taxpayer MLE; so the Lakers desperately needed to lure veterans who would take the minimum.

The Lakers achieved that by signing Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Wayne Ellington, Trevor Ariza and Kent Bazemore on one-year minimum deals.

Even Malik Monk, 23, signed a minimum deal to compete for a championship and raise his value for next year’s free agency; he could be the most intriguing signing of the bunch. Kendrick Nunn, 26, signed for the MLE.

Los Angeles needed to surround LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook with a competent roster capable of filling in the gaps, and this group of players has recently shown they have the right combination of skills to execute on the court, at least on paper.

With these moves, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report listed the Lakers as one of the winners of the 2021 free agency period:

“Trading for Russell Westbrook has defined the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason, but that’s not the entirety of it. They made other moves on the margins during actual free agency, and their roster makes more sense because of it.

Bagging Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Wayne Ellington and Malik Monk on minimum deals will beef up the spacing of a half-court offense that desperately needs breathing room. They are snipers of varying effectiveness and function — Ellington prefers to work in motion — but the Lakers jettisoned their two leading 3-point makers from last season (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma) to nab Westbrook, one of the league’s worst jump shooters. Adding even league-average marksmen goes a long way under the circumstances.

Kendrick Nunn is a more awkward fit as someone who prefers to operate on-ball, but he provides more north-south jet fuel and converted 42.1% of his catch-and-fire triples last season. Snagging him for the taxpayer’s mid-level exception is a worthwhile talent-in-a-vacuum play.

Dwight Howard does nothing for the Lakers’ floor balance, but he comes cheap, has experience playing beside Anthony Davis and is a muuuch better rim-runner than Andre Drummond. Talen Horton-Tucker’s return also doesn’t help Los Angeles’ shooting, but a 20-year-old who can defend a bunch of different positions has value to a team that’s nearly barren of every other future asset.

None of these moves turn the Westbrook acquisition into a no-risk proposition. Nor does it excuse the Lakers decision to let Alex Caruso walk, despite his chemistry playing beside LeBron James and having the ability to keep him. But Los Angeles entered free agency with supremely limited flexibility following the Westbrook blockbuster and managed to flesh out its rotation in a way that promises actual depth and spacing.

Additionally, as of now, the list of Lakers moves doesn’t include overpaying Dennis Schroder. That’s a huge win.”

This will be one of the most captivating seasons for L.A. in quite some time, but only time will tell if L.A. made the right moves to bring home the franchise’s 18th championship, which would be the most for a single team in NBA history.

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NBA free agency: Projected lineup for Lakers with Russell Westbrook

The Los Angeles Lakers always generate a ton of headlines but this year, that has happened even more as they have added several big names.

The Los Angeles Lakers always generate a ton of headlines, but this year that has happened even more as they have added several big names.

Whether it’s new names like Russell Westbrook or Carmelo Anthony or familiar faces like Trevor Ariza or Dwight Howard returning home, the Lakers are as star-studded as ever. So we wanted to take a look at what their lineup is going to resemble when the season begins.

Note that this depth chart will be inherently incomplete until we know the status of Dennis Schroeder and Talen Horton-Tucker. The Lakers can also spend the $5.9 million taxpayers’ midlevel exception to add more depth, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. They can potentially retain Wesley Matthews and Markieff Morris as well.

We already know that the roster is old – there are five players who are older than 35 years old and eight players over 32 years old – but for now, here is a better idea of what the depth chart looks like in Los Angeles.