We continue our Season Review series, in which we look back at how the season went for each Sacramento Kings player. Today we look at Malik Monk.
Malik Monk was far more than a super 6th man this season for the Sacramento Kings – he was one of the squad’s best and least-replaceable players.
A year removed from setting an NBA record for highest offensive rating and scoring the most points in the league, the Kings offense dropped to 13th in offensive rating and 9th in points per game. Kevin Huerter’s deep shooting numbers fell from a career high in 2022-23 to a career low in 2023-24. Harrison Barnes struggled to consistently make an impact offensively, scoring 11 or fewer points in more than half his contests. And while Keegan Murray took strong steps forward on defense and diversifying his offense, he also had his own offensive consistency issues.
Malik Monk wasn’t more efficient than any of Huerter, Barnes, or Murray, but he was more consistent. He averaged 15.4 points and 5.1 assists per game, third on the team in both categories, and he led the Kings to many victories they probably wouldn’t have won without him. He hit the game winner against Golden State in late November. He had 37 points and 9 assists – 17 of those points in the 4th quarter and OT – in a barn burning win against Orlando in January. With Fox in street clothes with a knee injury, Monk scored 35 of his 39 points in the 2nd half to lead the Kings to a victory in Minnesota in early March. His ability to thrive as both an on- and off-ball scorer and on-ball playmaker let Mike Brown stagger the minutes for Fox and Domantas Sabonis. But come crunch time, Monk was almost always in the ball game, starting lineups be damned.
Both Monk and Kings fans were frustrated when Malik lost the 6th Man of the Year Award to Minnesota’s Naz Reid. Monk finished first among reserves in the association for points, assists, and clutch points. Reid was certainly a deserving candidate, and his run as a starter helped the Timberwolves secure the 3rd seed in the West despite the injury to star Karl-Anthony Towns. Some NBA media folks noted that Monk’s shooting numbers towards the end of the season – he averaged 16.9 points and 4.7 assists in March, but shot 43.3% from the field and 27.9% from deep – were a reason against his candidacy. But one wonders if, had Monk avoided the injury against Dallas on March 29, if he’d have stuck at the top of the ballots and won the award.
Indeed, it’s impossible not to wonder if a healthy Monk could have helped the Kings avoid their eventual play-in outcome. The Kings were 41-31 and 7th in the West before the game against the Mavericks where Monk got hurt. When Luka Doncic went foul hunting and landed on Monk’s knee in the process, the Kings’ season changed. The squad went 5-7 in their remaining 12 games (including the two play-in contests), the offense took a real step back (dropping from 116 PPG to 111 PPG), and the Kings fell to 9th in the West. Sabonis’ efficiencies dropped in those final 12 games without his best pick-and-roll partner.
Would Monk have helped the Kings avoid some of their most egregious late season losses – such as the 2nd half meltdown in New York, or the 2nd half meltdown in Oklahoma City, or maybe the 2nd half meltdown against Phoenix? Who knows – Monk was certainly on the court for plenty of the Kings’ meltdowns throughout the season. But it’s hard not to wonder how the Kings could have finished the season with their third best player, arguably their most clutch player of the season, and one of their few true on-ball creators healthy. Avoiding just one of those losses, especially the April 12th home loss against Phoenix, would have altered the playoff/play-in seedings.
Malik enters the summer facing a ton of questions about his future, but there’s no question as to his value to the Sacramento Kings. In a year where the Kings offense faltered at times, Monk kept Sacramento in many games. Fox and Sabonis may be Sacramento’s best players, but Monk was the most electric King this season, and his ability to thrive with and play off of both Fox and Sabonis was a huge catalyst for their success. Here’s hoping this is just the beginning for Malik’s time in Sacramento.
He was either fun or frustrating to watch this season, for me at least. Staying with the Kings would be the best option (for the Kings) as replacing his value with the limited Exceptions available this offseason would be challenging.
Yeah, it’s why I love him in the 6th man role. There are games when Monk doesn’t have it and is making bad decisions and those were tough games. But the good games far outweighed the bad, and Monk’s infectious personality and swagger were a highlight of the season for me.
yeah very up and down, too much hero ball for my taste in the 4th and his defense is atrocious, but it’s obviously better for us to keep him as an asset to at the least trade later.
I really like Monk, but he’s far from perfect. Especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Disagree. Apart from the defense, my biggest issue with him is lack of consistency. We are demanding consistency from Keegan (and rightfully so), but we should demand the same from a much more veteran player as Monk. And he doesn’t have the excuse of Barnes of not getting plays called for him. He’d follow 9-16 shooting night with a 2-11 cluncker. One night quaterbacking the offense perfectly followed by a night with plenty of WTF turnovers.
And when he is mentioned by many (not you, Adamsite) as your third best player, that probably means that you’re no better than a play-in team in the Western Conference.
I understand that cap-constraints make it hard to get oither players, salary wise. But I think in principle, his type of irregular production could be found elsewhere. We have the problem of overvaluing our own favorite players
Him driving baseline, under the rim, and trying to fling the ball through 3 or 4 defenders, turning the ball over, happened way too often.
Fox replica except no random threes.
We really do, but I imagine it’s the same for like minded fans of other teams.
Why don’t we get Jokic for Keon?
Too much to give up for Jokic?
We do, I’d actually be shocked if someone pays him 100 mil
Malik, in my head, is the same kind of player the JR Smith was: running a bit wild, but brings the flair and mojo. He’s also one of the few players on the Kings that can create his own shot when things start locking up, albeit not to the degree of Fox or Sabonis. The offensive engine of the bench, and a regular game finisher if we need weapons to break down a defense.
I hope he’s back, but there’s only so much we can do.
I really is a shame Monk didn’t win the 6MOY award. It would have been a nice consolation prize for the franchise after a rather disappointing season after last year’s success. Monk really was a spark off the bench and was basically the de facto backup PG. No one else could run the team with PnR like him. If only the dude could play just average defense, he’d be much more of a force in the league.
Excluding some blockbuster trade during the draft that drastically changes things, Monte’s entire offseason hinges on what happens to Monk in free agency. Let’s hope any decision come first thing July 1st so Monte can make moves accordingly.
Re-signing Monk really has no baring on signing anyone else in free agency. The Kings will be over the cap regardless of Monk re-signs. The only two things preventing Monk from returning is if someone offers him more than the Kings can, and he takes it, or if Vivek doesn’t sign off on retaining him for what may be the full early bird exception, which would put the Kings very close to the tax. The latter may be a bigger reason than we realize.
Should the Kings give Monk his full early-bird rights, ($17.4M for year one), keep their pick at #13 ($4.7M), and use the full MLE ($12.8M) they would be far over the tax threshold. As of today they are about $26M under the tax line. There is always a chance a team can get back below the tax by the deadline, but those are typically teams not competing for a deep playoff run. Keep in mind, the Kings have never breached the tax threshold in the Vivek era. Will that change with a team that just missed the playoffs? It’s anyone’s guess.
Could the Kings re-create Monk in the aggregate (a la Moneyball) while also being a better all around team? Let’s say something like Jalen Smith and Naji Marshall, combined with internal growth from Keon, Keegan, Colby, and a bounce back year from Huerter or Barnes?
Play style, they would need someone to help run the offense, so the pieces might need to change. I am betting on Vivek not spending in to the Tax.
Technically the Kings could renounce his Early Bird Rights and sign him to a one year Non-Bird Exception at $11.8M, thus giving them Full Bird Rights in the summer of 2025. They could go over the cap to do this and keep their full MLE. The issue is Monk’s camp (and likely anyone with a functioning brain) would strongly advise against it. Why sign a one year deal at $11.8M whey he can sign a four year deal approaching $80M? There are no guarantees he doesn’t get hurt next season and lose out on major money in the Summer of 2025.
Basically, get paid while you can because no one knows what tomorrow brings.
To you answer of some kind of aggregate deal…it’s not allowed under the CBA. It’s likely all or almost all of the Early Bird Exception or he walks.
If Vivek does balk at going into the tax, Monte could still pay Monk and keep their #13 pick, but not use the MLE. They would remain a bit below the tax, but still need to round out a roster. If the Kings did something like that, I would 100% declare that Vivek is NOT committed to building a winning basketball team.
I was thinking could use the MLE or BAE if monks walks, and use those to round out the roster and “replicate” his production. I am just sure what CBA options they have if Monk leaves.
I don’t think the CBA is confusing enough, they should add many more clauses, exceptions, rules, etc. so lamens like us can work harder to figure it out, haha
Couldn’t the Kings dump Huerter to a team like Philly, Detroit, or Utah who all will have huge amounts of cap space this summer? We could do what ATL did with Utah last year via the John Collins trade where the Hawks basically gave Collins away plus a 2nd round pick. If we did that then I believe we’d then have enough cap space to resign Monk to a deal worth his current value right?
You’d need a willing partner to do that, but ask yourself this, does dumping Huerter for nothing in order to keep Monk really make the team better? I mean, they can keep everyone and still keep Monk if he agrees to the Kings maximum price. Kings also gave up a first round pick for Huerter. That would just be bad management of assets.
I also don’t think Monk is worth much more than the roughly $17m/year that the Kings can offer him.
I agree, but another thing that worries me is that Monk’s camp is going to point the contract extension Barnes just got from the Kings. He signed a 3 year $54 deal last summer and I’d imagine Monk’s agent will want more than that.
Kings are paying Barnes $18M next season, so would Monk take less than a teammate he clearly out performed?
Monk will take what the market offers him. If it’s 17 M then what’s he gonna do?
I think Barnes was an overpay, and Monk’s contract should not be compared to the overpay. His agent will use the Barnes type of contract to show how much he think Monk is worth. It only takes one team to be convinced, and my guess is that there will be some teams that offer Monk low $20m/year this offseason.
Malik’s one handed jams made me fist pump like Tiger Woods on meth every damn time. Legendary stuff. I hope he stays. I love the guy. If he leaves then he’ll join the short list of players I root for no matter what team. His leadership and swagger plus being besties with our franchise guy are intangibles you can’t put a price on.
Should’ve sandbagged this article a bit. We’re trying to keep his value affordable.
Championship Parade 202x. Make it happen!
Monk is a major asset and one of the four Kings that are difficult to replace . Afraid of a slide in the West if he is lost .
I agree that he is a part of the Kings core 4, but I’m guessing Monte is looking 2-3 seasons ahead.
Sabonis is locked up long term on a max deal. Fox is likely getting an extension this summer (in not…we are in for some drama). Keegan is up for a rookie extension after the upcoming season.Monk, if re-signed will take up the 4th long term major contract.
Are the Kings going to be a serious threat if they are locked into the 4 contracts of Sabonis, Fox, Keegan, and Monk eating up the vast majority of their cap? i’d argue that they are not. So who goes?
Monk 100% of that group goes, I just hope they sign him to trade him eventually
I don’t think he is actually difficult to replace tbh…bench scorers that don’t play defense are all over the league
Strong benches (tend to) mean rest for the starters, less risk of injury, less dip in the game action (less relative opponent scoring) and better recovery for a starter who is out (injury, fouled out, whatever).
For today’s Sacramento Kings, who else on the bench can provide that? Davion, to his credit, came on the last 15-20 games to hold the line (in place of being a detriment) or better in some cases. I expect that improvement to increase next season.
Lyles? Vezenkov? Alex Len? Kessler Edwards? Some up, some down and I am sure TKH will have features on each of them, but collectively, this season’s Kings bench did little to distinguish themselves, IMO.
Malik Monk was the only bench player to mention for the Kings this season, even more than last season (I miss Band-Aid Monk) and that was for better and for worse.
If the Kings hope to make any noise in the next season, an overall increase in starter level talent (as mentioned in the Keegan Murray thread) AND they need to bolster the bench, and it needs to be better than just Malik Monk. Not having Malik Monk just makes that more difficult to achieve.
And 1 – Look at what the Bucks did to the Pacers last playoff game (Game 5 down 1-3). Khris Middleton and basically, their second unit, handed Indy a very sour looking loss. Can you imagine the Kings doing that with Fox and Ox out (as Giannis and Dame sat courtside)? I sure as spit cannot ( I can imagine the Kings playing the Pacer side of that contest, however. I guess that makes me a bad fan).
I want monk to stay. Will he?… I’m feeling more no than yes lately. Will it hurt to lose him? Yes. Is his production replaceable? Yes. Is his attitude, leadership, and swag replaceable? No. That’s the part that scares me more than anything about potentially losing monk. It’s the intangibles he brings.
That said, I do believe there is a pretty obvious path to improving this team without Monk. Find a PF to replace Barnes in the starting lineup OR find a SF that moves Keegan to PF and replaces Barnes in the starting lineup.
If we lose Monk, then Barnes becoming our new 6th man makes a ton of sense.
Acquiring a new starting forward to replace Barnes in the starting lineup is possible in free agency. The most realistic (in terms of asking price and team cap space) and IMPACTFUL in my mind is DeMar DeRozen. Others are Gordon Hayward, McDermott, Ingles, Batum, Royce O’Neal, Patrick Williams, miles bridges :/, Cedi Osman, JaeSean Tate, Saddiq Bay, Caleb Martin, Derrick Jones Jr.
Imagine we lose Monk and one of those names above becomes our new starting SF. Spock moves to become our starting PF and Keon Ellis remains in the starting lineup with Barnes, Huerter, Lyles, Len and Mitchell as the bench unit.
That’s a better team than this years squad.
No need to say “Paying Barnes and Huerter a combined 34 million to come off the bench is a bad use of cap space”. In a perfect world you would be correct. However, this is the reality of the situation. Specifically the one I’m highlighting as a SIMPLE 1 move off season (involving zero trades and losing zero future assets), WHILE LOSING MONK, that makes this team significantly better than the team we just watched.
A lot of those “new starting forward[s]” are (well) past their primes.Most of them are primarily SFs, whereas I think we should be looking at keeping Murray at SF and finding more length at PF. I’d rather play Lyles (or Vezenkov) at PF and keep Murray at SF than acquire some of the guys in your list. The idea of Barnes (or Huerter) as the new 6th man may have some appeal.
Sure, “past their prime”. You’re not wrong. The PF free agent list isn’t too appealing to be honest. Unless you have some suggestions I’m not seeing. Tobias Harris is the best and is possible but I’m not sure the kings could afford him. They would have to go over the cap and that hasn’t been historically something that happens in sacramento. Plus he would want to come here and he’s arguably the most attractive Pf free agent outside of OG in NYC and Paskal in Indian and this guys were just traded to their new homes with I’m sure a handshake deal that they will re sign there.
of course all of this is just with my example of only making one free agent signing and trading no one and nothing.
obviously there are some trades that could happen that send out Barnes and or Huerter, Mitchell, Lyles etcetera and then the bench will need to be revamped with several new guys.
Jalen Smith, Obi Toppin … young with upside? Big splash: Siakam! 🙂 Poach from GSW: Dario Saric? Kyle Anderson?
Go after Jalen Smith.
What are you, his agent or his grandpa?
I wish I was his agent. I have 2 grandsons already one a junior at Pen and the other just got a scholarship to Duke University. The younger one is an exceptional athelete and just got the sportmanship award at a basketball tourney in Lima Peru.
PS The kid shoots lights out at the 3.
Jalen or your grandson?
just kidding. Happy for you and your family.
Can he play SF…PF…C?
Jack is not concerned with that.
Trade to trade…
Just listened to Jerry Reynolds on podcast. He really likes Jalen Smith as a PF. We could really have a chance to get him in free agency. Yes he is young but so far has shown real progress. You always have to take a chance on somebody moving up the ladder. At 6’10” can rebound, protect the weakside rim, run, shot the 3 at 40% IMO be would be worth the chance.
PS He can also play center and be a backup tp Sabonis.
Anything to improve this team.
Status quo is average at best.
Nope. He’s a shooting guard.
I would love to make a trade for Tari Eason or pick up Jalen Smith in FA. Both are young up and coming and would be an upgrade over Barnes. Smith could also be our backup center.
Yes, the upgrade to the starting lineup for Barnes can already be on the roster in Lyles or Sasha. Moving Barnes to the bench helps both units
That swagger and leadership led to countless meltdowns and losing to the worst teams….our team swagger and leadership NEEDS major improvement, I don’t think we really get that from Monk
OT; Tobias Harris heading into FA after getting zero points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in an elimination game.
In 6 games against the Knicks, he had just one decent scoring game (19 points), and that was the overtime game where he played 49 minutes
Ouch.
I am no fan of Embiid, but he and Maxey needed more help from Harris.
Maybe this lowers his price tag in free agency and we can get him for 60 million over 3 years.
not likely. One can hope.
The Kings don’t have the cap space to sign him. They would have to use the roughly $13m MLE for Harris, and he will still be worth more than that.
I wouldn’t do that. Too old and past his prime.
We only have 12.6mil. in free agency.
Here is an idea. IMO Monk wouldn’t be a King next year so let’s beef up the starting 5. The Nets aren’t gping anywhere with what they have now and they have no first round picks for quite awhile and they aren’t going to trade Bridges unless some team depletes their assets like the Pacers did for Siakim. IMO we could trade Huerter and Lyles our 2026 first and our2030 first for Cam Johnson. He would be our starting SG which he can play and has done so in the past. Next pick up Jalen Smith in FA using our mle. Your starting five would be: Fox Johnson Murray Smith and Sabonis or trade Mitchell and Vezenkov and our #13 pick for Tari Eason and Jeff Green. The Rockets want a backup defensive guard as backup and we take Green’s contract of a 37 year old off the books for the Rockets. That’s 9,600 mil which we would eat for one year. After 1 year we drop Green and get 9,600 mil. If that happens Eason would start along side Sabonis and Smith would be our backup center but could also be interchangeable with Eason. You would now have Barnes as a backup as well as Ellis, Duarte and Jones.
I love the offseason ideas, but please use paragraphs.
As far as Cam Johnson, hard pass, empty stats guy.
Sorry about paragraphs. Was a history and math teacher and always traded for English. I think Johnson would be a pretty good fit. Doesn’t have to score 20 a game but around 15. Plays pretty good defense. Doesn’t have to be top dog and can work with other scorers. Has a good declining contract for I believe 4 years. Shoots the 3 at over 40% and at his height can shoot over almost every SG.
I hope Monte isn’t eyeing TH, he isn’t very good and would be redundant with KM and stunt KM’s minutes.
NBA First Round Take Aways:
The old guard is fading fast. LBJ, KD, Duds, and now the CLips old 4 are on the brinks. Nice to see these guys being phased out for the new class of stars who in my opinion are much more likeable than the aforementioned.
Wolves and Nuggets is stacking up to be an epic 2nd round series and a I think a future rivalry for the next five years. This one has an exciting seven games written all over it. Two teams that built the right way around their stars (minus what the Wolves gave up for Rudy).
Another team that built the right way around their star, the Knicks. Surround your star(s) with high end roll players that are dogs and have athleticism. MM should be taking notes on how the Nuggets, Wolves and Knicks were built.
Buddy’s sorry attempt at a game tying three at the buzzer last night was hilarious and totally encapsulates the Buddy experience. Unless the guy is spotting up for a three, he’s useless on both ends of the court.
I agree that Denver and the Nuggets are built for the next few years, but OKC is built for the next decade. They have a boat load of picks, are the youngest team, swept their first round series, and have at least one super star in SGA.
What I worry about is that the Spurs and Rockets are right behind them. They too have picks and youth. The Kings are kind of stuck between the old guard of superstars and young teams looking to get even better in the coming years. I feel like they are going to get lapped once again.
The West is going to remain a blood bath for a long time (OKC, MINNY, DEN, PELS, WEMBY, HOU, MAVS, GRIZZ). I think the Kings are headed towards that dreaded medicority level where they are not bad enough for high draft picks and are just good enough for a play-in. MM is going to have to work wonders to get us into the upper echelon of the West.
I totally agree. The more I think about it, Monte may have to do what Ainge did in Utah. He realized the Mitchell/Gobert/Conley core was never more than a first round exit, so he drastically shifted gears. It was kind of the same thing he did with the big 3 in Boston that eventually got them Tatum and Brown.
Depressingly I have to agree. There’s an alternate world where we built around Haliburton and traded Fox instead once his value increased the next season. I just don’t see the upside with where the roster currently stands and the CAP limitations and miniscule future draft capital that’s encumbered by the pick perpetually owed to ATL.
Our favorite player last night
Buddy had no business having the ball in his hands on that last play. I’d rather Embiid chuck up a three.
If the Kings resign Monk, they make the playoffs next year.
If they don’t . . .
If we bring back the same team we had this year, I don’t think we are a playoff team, just a border line play-in team imo.
The West is loaded.
Also, we had two seasons of extreme low loss of games missed due to injury. How long will that continue to hold up?
We’ve also just had peak Sabonis and Fox. I’m sure they can play much better than they have the past two seasons.
Typo or sarcasm?
Sorry, typo.”I’m NOT sure they can play much better…”
I like the way the Knicks have approached their way of thinking. You don’t have to have a boat load of all stars bur surround one or two with players that compliment those one or two. IMO not old players but up and coming young players. Don’t need a James or George. I’m not sure the Kings can do that without going over the cap.
I agree. I’ve brought up the Knicks a lot lately. They have one star and they have surrounded that one star with the right players, high level rotational players. MM on the other hand has surrounded Fox and Ox with perplexing players. MM needs to target dogs, athleticism and length. Instead he seems infatuated with the HB, Sasha, Lyles types.
The Knicks also spent about $14m more in salary, and their owner is not afraid to keep spending, if needed.
MM does seem to have a type of player, for better or worse. The lack of athleticism with Sasha, Lyles, HB is very apparent against many teams in the league.
If Monty doesn’t want to go whole hog here is an example. Most on this podcast are asked do you want a defensive player or an offensive player? I say you can have both but it will cost. Trade Huerter and Lyles plus our #13 the 2026 first the 2030 first and 2 seconds for the Nets Mikal Bridges and center Day Ron Sharpe. The Nets as of now have no first round draft picks so they are going nowhere. We get Bridges as our starting SG and Sharpe as our backup center. Get Jalen Smith in free agency. Starters: Fox, Bridges, Murray, Smith, Sabonis. Backups: Mitchell, Monk, Ellis, Barnes, Sharp. Still have Jones, Duarte and Vezenkov. Might be some trades there.
I agree.
The suspense is killing us!
Run it back!
anyone like Norchad Omier as a possible 2nd round pick? rebounding translates. and he’s hitting threes now. Coach Brown might be able to improve some aspects of his defense. dude pops off the screen every game.
Badge Legend