Lakers face daunting task in free agency without much to spend

Last season, the Lakers took a chance: They signed Malik Monk, a former lottery pick fallen on hard times, to a minimum deal.
Monk has talked several times about the ache of last summer – hoping for bigger deals before swallowing his pride to come to L.A. at the minimum. It turned out to be a win-win: Monk helped the Lakers absorb a season-long injury to Kendrick Nunn, starting 37 games and averaging 13.8 points as one of the team’s microwave scorers. Playing for the Lakers helped re