Key Lakers free agent hinting at re-signing with team?
Sep 27, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka answers a question during the Lakers media day at the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Lakers could be keeping their holiness this offseason by re-signing their resident Monk.
Lakers shooting guard Malik Monk, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, hinted on Monday at returning to the team. Monk even said that money is not his top priority.
“Money is always a part, man, but I don’t think it’s the biggest priority in my free agency this year,” Monk told The Athletic’s Jovan Buha. “It’s me feeling like I’m having a home and [that] I can go out there and do the same things I did this year.
“They might not be able to pay me as much as I want,” the ex-lottery pick added of the Lakers. “But I could be here and be way more comfortable as a Laker than going to any other team [that would pay] me $5 million more. So it’s just me trying to figure out what team would really want me.”
Buha adds that Monk could command a multi-year deal worth roughly $10-12 million annually but that Monk will consider staying with the Lakers for the taxpayer’s midlevel exception (worth about $6 million). You can read more on Monk’s offseason situation as well as that of the Lakers team as a whole in Buha’s full piece here.
Monk, 24, was one of the few acquisitions that panned out for the Lakers during their calamitous 2021-22 campaign. He played out the season on a one-year minimum deal and produced well for the team with 13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game on 47.3 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from deep.
The Lakers appear to be shooting for Jupiter right now with some of their other summer plans. But they may have something to celebrate regardless with Monk’s potential return to Tinseltown.
