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2022 Free Agents - Malik Monk

Summary
Before the '20-'21 season, things were looking pretty bleak for the former Kentucky lottery pick. Monk had not earned consistent minutes with the Hornets, and when he did play the results were not promising. Monk showed poor shot selection, struggled to hit shots, and was a clear negative on defense.

In '20-'21, Monk looked like a legitimate spark plug off the bench, showing some of the potential that he showed when he was a lottery-level prospect, and continued that level of play with the Lakers in '21-'22, as he was one of the only surprisingly-good aspects of their disappointing season.

Monk has real shot-creation ability due to his quickness and his handle, and now is finally converting on those attempts. His eFG% has been above-average for his position over the last two seasons, according to Cleaning the Glass, and he was especially effective from three, hitting nearly 40% of his attempts. Monk is showing that he can be an above-average shooter, and do so on some difficult attempts. He also finished well at the rim in '21-'22, hitting 67% from there.

Defensively, Monk will likely always be a negative, but that hasn't stopped Lou Williams from having an extremely successful career, and Monk is showing he can perform a similar role, but would need to improve his passing to truly hit that level. if not, he could still be a Jordan Clarkson-type player that can hit tough shots for 2nd units that lack creation or when you just need someone that can get off a decent look in late shot clock situations.

 
Cap Considerations
Monk will be an unrestricted free agent with a $1.7 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. This means that the highest starting salary the Lakers could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is $2.5 million. Alternatively, the Lakers could use their $6.3 million Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception to re-sign Monk if he demands more than $2.5 million. Due to the Lakers' limitations, other teams will have a legitimate shot at signing Monk away from Los Angeles without having to make him a huge offer.

If Monk demands a starting salary of more than the full $10.3 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, only teams with cap space will be able to sign him. It's possible that Monk could be had for the full MLE or less.

Potential Teams: Pistons, Lakers, Kings, Knicks, Pacers

Predicted Contract: 4-year, $42 million with the Pistons

Actual Contract: 2-year, $19.4 million with the Kings

Monk didn't do quite as well as I expected, either on a contract length basis or annual value basis, but I was a little bullish on his market, and this contract is not all that surprising.

Last updated: 7/10/2022

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