The Los Angeles Lakers surprised a lot of people with some of the moves that they pulled off this NBA offseason. The biggest among them was acquiring Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards on draft night.
But, to acquire Westbrook, the team had to surrender three rotation players from last season’s team. Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Montrezl Harrell were all traded to Washington.
The team also lost multiple free agents, as Alex Caruso, Dennis Schroder, Andre Drummond, Ben McLemore, and Markieff Morris all signed elsewhere. Jared Dudley joined the Dallas Mavericks coaching staff and Wesley Matthews remains a free agent.
That meant Rob Pelinka was going to have to get to work filling out the roster with nothing more than one exception and veteran minimum deals. Kendrick Nunn signed for the mid-level exception, agreeing to a two-year, $10.25 million deal.
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Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Kent Bazemore, Trevor Ariza, and Wayne Ellington all signed veteran’s minimum deals. Rajon Rondo and DeAndre Jordan did the same after securing buyouts.
But, the most surprising signing for a veteran’s minimum was Malik Monk. He was the one that Anthony Davis could not believe joined the team.
Anthony Davis certainly isn’t the only one who was surprised by Monk’s decision. He is only 23-years old and coming off the best season of his career with the Charlotte Hornets. He averaged 11.7 points per game and knocked down 40.1 percent of his 3-point attempts.
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It would not have been shocking to see a team sign him to a mid-level exception given his age, production last season, and draft pedigree. Signing a minimum deal as his first contract following his rookie deal expiring was shocking, to say the least.
Despite the surprise people had, this is where Malik Monk wanted to be. He discussed the environment and chance to play with some of the best players in the league as reasons for picking the Los Angeles Lakers. He will have a chance to cash in for a payday next offseason, especially if picks up where he left off with the Hornets last season.
