Podcast: Should Malik Monk be starting over Kent Bazemore?

Arguably no one in the world is more quietly thankful for how poorly DeAndre Jordan has played this season than Kent Bazemore. When signed, he was widely seen as a significant part of the Lakers’ perimeter defensive identity and someone who would be a steadfast rotation player.

In November, he has seen his minutes and role diminish greatly, even while the Lakers have dropped like flies around him (more on that later). So, the question kind of needs to be asked at this point: Should Malik Monk perhaps join that first unit given its offensive woes?

This week in the Lakers Lounge, Harrison Faigen and I spent time on that, the aforementioned cascade of injuries, Kevin Garnett not being able to reach Kobe Bryant in 2008, Alex Caruso and more.

Honestly, I’m of the opinion that Monk should get a look in the starting unit in Kent Bazemore’s place. That unit is mostly just sad now, and wasting any of the minutes Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis play together just doesn’t make much sense. Darius Soriano agrees, though the player he’d take out is Jordan. I’m fine with either or both of those guys starting the game on the bench.

From there, Harrison and I jumped into the team’s injury situation, where things are getting mighty dark, and fast. Once again, the Lakers aren’t doing anyone any favors with how they’re handling injury information, and already you’re starting to hear grumbles from fans about the team’s medical staff, a group that was supposed to be an upgrade over last season.

We segue from that to a fascinating moment in NBA history given how differently things might’ve played out: Apparently, Kevin Garnett was ready to OK a trade to the Lakers but couldn’t get a hold of Kobe Bryant. Lots to pick apart there.

Finally, Harrison and I spend what little energy we have left on Caruso’s version of the events that led to his departure from the Lakers, and what parts of his comments do (and don’t) matter.

You can listen to the entire episode below, and to make sure you don’t miss a single one moving forward, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.