The Sacramento Kings announced Thursday that Malik Monk has been diagnosed with a right toe sprain. Monk suffered the injury against the Dallas Mavericks, although he did return to that game. Monk missed Wednesday’s game against the Denver Nuggets with the injury, and has been ruled out for Friday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs. The Kings say that Monk will be considered Day-to-Day going forward.
The Spurs game is a rough game to be missing Monk, as the Kings host the return of De’Aaron Fox. Although the Spurs are also dealing with injury woes after Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the season with deep vein thrombosis, I personally would have enjoyed seeing Fox and Monk go…ahem…toe to toe.
Monk has had mixed success since the De’Aaron Fox trade that put Monk into the primary ball-handler role for the Kings. Since the trade on February 5th, Monk is averaging 15.5 points, 6.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 29.4% from 3 and 41.3% overall. By comparison, before the trade Monk had been averaging 18.2 points, 5.9 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.0 steals, while shooting 33.1% from 3 and 44.9% overall. Despite the dip in Monk’s efficiency and scoring, his absence clearly hurts the Kings. I may complain about the fit of the players on this roster, but one of Sacramento’s strengths is the number of talented players who can take over on any given night. Losing Monk, on top of the Kings already missing Domantas Sabonis, will be a challenge for the Kings as they enter a difficult stretch of their schedule.
While I want to see Monk back as soon as possible, I think it’s smart that the Kings are giving this an official diagnosis and ensuring Monk isn’t rushed back to action. Anyone who has ever strained their toe knows how easy it is to re-aggravate this kind of injury. Here’s hoping Monk takes as long as he needs, but also hoping he doesn’t need long.
It used to be that only Lonzo Ball ducked Fox.
Looks like Zach and DDR will have to toe the line between PG and SF tomorrow.
The backcourt line up is limp. As Monk heels, they just have Markelle Fultz as the sole true PG on the roster
^Nailed it^ toe wise
I’m all for Keon making the start and matching up with Fox. It’s going to be fun.
Let’s just hope that DDR doesn’t shoot 30 times again.
Another game without Domonk. In the meanwhile nba.com seems really happy that the NBA’s reassignment of Luka to the L*kers is working out.
So this has nothing to do with Monk, but if you are subscribed to The Athletic you should read the Kings article today. The amount of dysfunction on this team is terrifying. Sabonis wants clarity. Vivek’s daughter appears to be heavily involved in decisions. McNair and Fox were against firing Brown.
This is why many of us were against firing Brown and trading Fox. We actually had some stability even if we weren’t a championship team. It’s why even with our recent wins it’s hard to have any faith in this team.
It’s also why I think a total teardown may come but will only set us back again. Vivek keeps looking to outside people to tell him what to do while unable unable to resist overriding his current staff.
Like the Raiders, the only way this team ever gets consistently better is when Vivek finally realizes he has to bring in good people and stay out of the way. Or sell the team.
Damn, that article was depressing. Many of us have joked about Anjali running the team, but that may become a reality. Monte didn’t want Brown fired, Wilcox is working as shadow GM, and Domas (rightfully) wants answers this summer. What a shit show.
Thank god I don’t subscribe to the athletic! I’m in a surprisingly good mood today.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Domas eventually wants out of here.
So if Monte didn’t want to fire Brown, and Vivek only “green lighted” it from Cabo, who was spear heading the firing? Wilcox? Anjali? Jeremy Lamb?
Yeah, good read. Sad state of affairs.
ESPN had a similar article: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44126913/mike-brown-firing-ended-deaaron-fox-sacramento-kings
I did find this part interesting:
“During Mike’s extension talks, some guys in the locker room didn’t want Mike,” Fox said. “Some guys wanted him to be fired during the summer. … But I’m not going to say [who].”
It sounds like there was Mike Brown related factionalism in the locker room, which is never a good sign
My guess is Domas. I think the Brown firing was the first indication of the team pivoting from Fox to Domas. Also a big part of DC as interim over Brown’s assistants.
Hmmmm
Domas and Malik?
Sasha, Davion and Keon! Kevin Huerter wanted him to stay!
(I am just making stuff up – I have been pleading for stability, which has been fully absent during the Ranadive campaign. That said, the 19-11 Coach Christie has done an admirable job that Mike Brown seemed to be unable to put together as Sac was 13-18 at the time of his dismissal)
It was Sabonis.
So from reading the tealeaves – Brown (finally) getting after Fox a bit publicly leading up to his dismissal was likely because the rest of the roster felt like Fox wasn’t being held accountable, and Brown knew his job was in jeopardy (and he’d backed the wrong horse).
If anything, this shows that Fox should have been dealt earlier. If you’re looking for stability on a roster, get rid of the borderline All-Star who needs special treatment.
But Fox put up a 60 point game, and the fans talked about him like he’s still a potential superstar, and the front office holds off until things get really ugly.
Pretty much “Kings 101” over about the last 20 years.
I think almost all of the blame for the either perceived and or very real “special treatment” Fox feels he deserves is squarely on Vivek and the org.
We don’t need any reminders of all the generational talent they passed on because it would have taken the ball out of his hands. I think if we were all honest with ourselves it would be hard showing up daily to your job and can do no wrong for literal years. Told you’re the best and only reason and way to find success as a team. Then turn around and expect anything less than total fealty to your desired outcomes. Much like all the true stars of the league expect to be treated. The issue here is that while Fox may not be a star to the rest of the league they anointed him as one here internally.
The biggest issue I see coming is now the ego of Sabonis. Full disclosure I get all my info from the head popcorn vendor as pointed out by another member here but Sabonis was the one who wanted brown gone. Sabonis was out with a cold for a few games which if we follow the lore of Sabonis being a beast and playing through broken fingers and partially torn hamstrings and chest injuries….a cold doesn’t track right? Especially when that cold cleared up enough for him to get on that flight to LA for Christie’s first game and play all game.
All that aside is the fact that now Sabonis is going to be the next Fox. Truly in all ways. While I think he’s a great player and makes us amazingly better he’s not a superstar, he’s not a needle mover on a team that already has superstars he’s just a really good player…like Fox. But now Vivek thinks he’s a superstar. Vivek is also falling for the bait of hey I just signed an extension here and he didn’t so listen to me instead of Fox. Which is where the schism started.
I also don’t have any issues with Brown getting fired as I think we all saw the secret sauce was Jordi and if you watch Brooklyn play you can see a lot of beam team coming through.
I’ll also say that by the time he was fired, Mike Brown needed to be fired. I don’t know what he thought he was doing with Keon Ellis but it was actually just basketball terrorism.
Silly Conspiracy theory of the day:
Fox helped Brown get his extension. Brown tried to get fired(not playing Keon) and was helped by Fox vs Detroit.
Brown gets fired. Brown and Fox have dinner to solidify plans.
Fox to SAS. Brown joins SAS bench this summer to become heir apparent to Pop.
Adamsite’s Dallas theory was pretty solid (and there was no book depository). This one also deserves a hmmm.
Fun stuff and of course – we’ll never know!
Hard to see things getting better over the summer when the higher up disfunction still remains:
I suspect Domas will not receive the same vitriol that Fox did for asking “what’s the plan here”.
I’ve never understood why any player would receive any vitriol for asking that question. I’ve been asking it for a decade and if it wasn’t abundantly clear already, there isn’t a plan and never has been.
Yeah, I don’t understand it either.
I don’t mind Fox asking “what’s the plan here?” but the ride-or-die with Mike Brown when the team immediately and dramatically improved upon his firing just seems like some drama-llama shit.
HCDC is 19-11 despite injuries, the Fox situation and integrating new players. He actually puts our second best player (and best defender) on the court. His rotations make sense. Abstract Mike Brown sounded like a good idea, but actual Mike Brown, as I said above, was a basketball terrorist.
Mike Brown was far from a perfect coach, and at the time of his firing I think it was justified. I think the bigger issue was not just how Fox was fired, but the way he was fired reeked of continued organizational dysfunction.
Agree. No matter how they chose to wash their laundry, the stink of Vivek (and Matina) will be there until he is gone. Even then, it will linger for a while.
And this will effect ALL future dealings – GM, Head Coach, interactions with players and players’ agents.
Yeah… I would say this is a disaster but we all sorta knew this was the case right? If most of the fanbase can obviously see what’s going on and have no idea what the long term plan for the franchise is, why wouldn’t the players be wondering the same thing?
I feel like I’ve been saying this for at least a half decade now, but nothing really matters while Vivek runs this team. He’s just way too incompetent to ever create a stable situation.
Is tonight’s event a basketball game or a divorce court proceeding?
I’m against telling people how to fan, so hypocrisy and all that, but the Bee published a troll article about booing Fox today, and if you’re going to buy the Kings org’s dysfunction and disinformation and boo Fox, you suck. If you’re going to boo, it’s not hard to figure out where the problem is.
I really hope he gets a loud cheer. He wanted to be in Sac, embraced the city and seems like a really good dude. He deserves no boos from our fans
De’Aaron Fox did everything asked of him and more, and has always been a laudable ambassador to the franchise. Always convivial, affable and approachable. He devoted himself to the game – who can forget his having Coach Luke Loucks visit during his honeymoon. His wife and children courtside. He decided to move on – just my opinion – and we fans should do the same.
In regards to De’Aaron Fox: Nothing but applause from me. Best of luck for the future for De’Aaron/Swipa/FoxForce5
I’m not sure Mike Brown was the biggest problem here. It was Monte treating this roster like Fox was the most important piece. The guy to build around was Haliburton, and when he left, it was Sabonis.
Fox was never that guy.
I think Monte also thought what almost everyone thought – that Keegan was going to be a big-time player in the league. Hard to criticize him for that, Keegan’s rookie year was stellar.
Still, this roster is in a better place right now IMO. The players may see ineptitude in the front office, but it seems like there’s better chemistry on the floor with this group.
Random alert.
I’ve had a lot of serious injuries in my life, one time I dropped a sledgehammer on my naked toe and I have to admit for those five seconds that’s the most pain I’ve ever felt in my life.
Well yeah, but you weren’t playing professional basketball either, right?
I thought the most pain you’ve felt was hearing Kayte talk?
I’ve run on broken toes, sprained toes and toes that have had their toenail turn black and fall off from all the running – it sucks but it’s entirely doable. The problem is that they never, ever heal until you take some time off.
If this was a playoff game there’s no doubt in my mind that Monk would be out there but for a regular season game the focus should be getting healthy for when there are higher stakes.
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