Getty Malik Monk with LaMelo Ball.
In the early stages of free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers roster has gotten a lot older with the additions of several veterans. For a brief moment, Anthony Davis was the youngest player on the team at 28. However, the team has finally added some youth.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers have signed former Charlotte Hornets guard Malik Monk.
Free agent G Malik Monk has agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, source tells ESPN.
At 23-years-old, Monk is easily the team’s youngest player for the time being. This is a solid pickup for the Lakers as the guard brings scoring and shooting ability. Last season, he averaged 11.7 points a game and hit 40.1% of his threes. That should give Los Angeles a nice little shooting boost off the bench.
Monk has primarily been a bench player throughout his career and only started in one game. He’ll likely become one of the Lakers’ key bench players throughout the season. He’s not a flashy name for the team bring in but he’s cheap and a solid scorer.
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Lakers Also Sign Carmelo Anthony
In other news, the Lakers also signed one of the great players of the 2000s. Carmelo Anthony announced on Twitter that he’ll be heading to Los Angeles to play with his good friend LeBron James.
This is a move that has been talked about a lot this offseason. Anthony is 37-years-old and has yet to win a championship. He’ll now have his best chance yet to bring home a trophy. Anthony is not the player he once was but can still be an effective role player for the Lakers. He averaged 13.4 points a game last season on 40.9% from deep. At this stage in his career, Anthony has shown that he’s willing to take a step back to help teams win. He could end up being a very valuable player coming off the Lakers’ bench.
Lakers Roster Taking Shape
With the way the Lakers’ roster is coming together, it looks like an All-Star team from almost a decade ago. Putting Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony on the same team in 2015 wouldn’t even be fair. However, Davis is probably the only one who is truly still in his athletic prime.
Gasol, Howard and Anthony aren’t making another All-Star team anytime soon and we still need to see how Westbrook fits with this roster. That said, the Lakers do have a lot to be excited about. The roster is really old but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As long as Davis and LeBron play well, the Lakers can compete with any team in the league. Adding a guy like Westbrook helps take pressure off LeBron and Davis during the regular season, which is a clear positive. The playoffs will be a concern with so many older players. It remains to be seen if all of these older guys can hold up for a deep playoff run. If they can, the Lakers should be as good as anybody.
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