NBA: 3 value free agents to watch heading into the offseason

NBA’s best value free agents: Malik Monk

Just one season ago, it felt like a legitimate question whether or not Malik Monk would be getting a second contract.

There are still a lot of minuses in Monk’s game. Monk will never be a great playmaker or defender, which will limit him to a sixth-man role at best for the entirety of his career.

If there’s one thing that encapsulates Monk as a player though, it would probably be having extreme hubris for shooting the basketball.

Monk averaged 27 points per 100 possessions for the Charlotte Hornets this season and shot splits of 47/40/81 from the field overall.

In a league that is always desperate for guys who can shoot the ball from deep, a 40% long-ball shooter on five attempts per game will certainly draw plenty of suitors.

An area of his game that teams will like to see Monk improve in is getting to the free-throw line. Monk’s free-throw rate this season of 18% is way below the league average of 24.7%, and for a guy shooting above 80% from the line, Monk could certainly solidify himself as one of the best bench scorers in the league if he works on drawing contact.

The Hornets can offer Monk a $7.3 million qualifying offer this summer if they don’t want other teams to get a crack at him in restricted free agency, but Devonte’ Graham is also a free agent this summer.

With a hole in their frontcourt that needs to be filled, the Hornets may not want to get into a bidding war to keep a bench piece for their already crowded backcourt.