NBA Free Agency kicks off on June 30th, and Sacramento Kings fans will have all eyes on Malik Monk. Monk is hitting Unrestricted Free Agency, and the Kings will be limited in what they can offer to keep Monk in Sacramento. Due to Early Bird Rights, the Kings are allowed to exceed the cap to re-sign Monk, but are limited to an offer equaling around $78 million over 4 years. Teams with cap space have no such limitations. For months now we’ve discussed the most alluring free agent destinations that could entice Monk, such as the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers.
Monk made comments in his exit interview about how money alone doesn’t mean you’re in a good situation:
“It’s big because I can go somewhere else with a lot more money and be in a worse situation. So, you never know,” said Monk. “I have a great agent that’s going to do his job. I think my job is done. I did what I needed to do this year, and it’s going to play out. I think it’s going to play out in the right way.”
Due to those comments we’ve mostly dismissed the Detroit Pistons as a threat in free agency. But reporters around the Pistons are still expecting Detroit to try. In a recent mailbag The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III listed Monk as one of the main free agents he thinks the Pistons would pursue:
As for other realistic free-agent options, I think Detroit goes heavily after the likes of Malik Monk, Nic Claxton and Gary Harris. Monk feels like someone the Pistons will heavily prioritize due to the team’s need for legitimate 3-point shooting and off-the-dribble shot creation.
Detroit is in a really bad place as a franchise. They have lots of young, unproven talent and an overpaid coach in Monty Williams who clearly was the wrong hire for the team. This summer the Pistons hired Trajan Langdon as their new President of Basketball Operations, and he ousted General Manager Troy Weaver the following day. It’s unclear if Langdon will also dismiss Monty Williams (in the mailbag Edwards puts it at 50-50 if Williams returns), but it wouldn’t surprise anyone outside of the massive salary Detroit would still be paying.
But with a glut of young talent, a ton of cap space, and a new President trying to change the fortunes of the franchise, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Pistons attempt to replicate what the Houston Rockets did last season, overpaying for talented veterans to boost the roster into respectability. Should the Pistons have one or two free agents already committed, the situation in Detroit could quickly become a less bleak situation for Monk to join.
Personally, I still think the odds are in Sacramento’s favor and they’ll ultimately retain Monk. But Detroit wasn’t a team I was worried about at all, and now I’m upgrading them to a team I’m worried about a little.
“Loyalty” vs. money.
I’ll take loyality and 78 mil.
Any team approaching $20M per year and offering a starting role is a threat to get Monk. My money is still on Orlando and Philly. He’d fit nicely next to either Suggs or Maxey. They also offer legitimate playoff potential.
What worries me is the new NBA TV deal coming down the pike, which will likely increase the cap beyond expectations and recent guys like Jordan Poole who just 18 months ago signed a 4 year $140M deal. Someone is going to offer Monk more money than the Kings can. The question is if Monk takes it.
The main reason I’m not worried about Orlando is because I think they’d be insane to give Monk 4yr/$100M+ based on their future cap space needs. With the new limitations created by the aprons, they need to be mindful of upcoming money they’re going to owe Paolo, Franz, Suggs, Isaac, WCJ, and any of their other young guys they intend to keep. Those extensions are going to add up fast, and adding $25M/yr for Monk could push them into dangerous territory in the later years.
They would be smart to offer a big contract for like a 2-year deal, but part of me wonders if an extra $5M per year is worth more to Monk than the guarantee of four years at $19M.
I just feel he’s exactly the kind of player they need. He can create his own shot while also creating for others. Also, any extension for Paolo or or WCJ won’t kick in until the 3rd year of Monk’s deal and $20M per year contract then is going to look like the contracts of Barnes and Huerter now. They are both very movable and favorable to the team.
You are right, though, it would take some creative cap management and foresight to give that contract to Monk, but I’ll add the same situation applies to the Kings. Sabonis is already on a max deal, Fox is next, and Keegan is due for a rookie extension next summer. Does Monte want to tie up the future cap in the core of those 4 who have shown they are a first round exit at best?
They already have a Malik Monk on their roster. His name is Cole Anthony.
That’s a pretty fair point, and he comes in much cheaper, although I might give Monk a slight edge in his ability to create for himself and others. Still, with Fultz and Harris hitting UFA, they are likely looking for a starting level guard.
It’ll be interesting, they don’t really have a single ideal primary ball handler on their team. They have a bunch of guys that can kinda do it (Anthony, Suggs, Banchero, Wagner, Black) but they’re all more secondary types. And I would put Monk into that secondary basket too. Now, I suppose you could go with a much more free-flowing, no primary ballhandler approach. If you could do that right it could be really hard to defend. But I would imagine you’d still want someone adept at playing the primary facilitator role in situations when that isn’t working.
I think they should target Tyus Jones.
Paolo, Franz, Suggs, Isaac, WCJ
Paolo is the only one of the bunch getting a max. I think ORL is fine from a CaP stand point. They need MM’s shooting and vet leadership to take the next step. I think they’d be smart giving MM 4/100.
Franz is definitely getting a big payday, the rookie max for him would not surprise me at all.
For sure. I’m hoping we see the same kind of linear growth from Keegan that Orlando has seen from Franz so we too can be talking about a rookie max extension next summer.
yep
there will be a bigger offer.
Detroit- is lousy, coach is on the ropes, Cade wants the ball and they have Ivey who is similar to Monk wand wants to start.
Orlando needs to save space for their younger players and they have Suggs who totally thinks he is the third guy and they do not want to threaten him with Monk who will act like the third guy. Food fight
I think Monk is as good as gone. Inferior players like Herro and Poole make $30 million plus, why would Monk take $20 million a year from the Kings? The numbers just don’t add up for him to remain a King. Multiple teams need what Monk provides and they have the space to sign him to a much bigger contract than 4/$78.
No. Who the hells want to live in Detroit???
You take the most lucrative contract. Later, you demand a trade. It’s the NBA way.
In this era, for sure.
They really don’t live where they play. The California resident taxes are also a reality these players consider.
Taxes are one of the reasons I left CA, it is for sure a factor.
I lived in Michigan for 2 years recently, and the winter months are dreary and depressing. Grey skies, no sun, cold, roads suck.
I grew up there and can confirm this is, in fact, the reality of Michigan winters. And approx. 1/3rd of their summers as well. A big reason I’ve always been fine with paying that “tax” to live in CA as an adult.
I think the tax thing is a bit overblown. If it was an issue at the forefront, Warriors, Lakers, and Clippers wouldn’t be landing high-profile free agents at a clip akin to the Kings.
I agree. To my knowledge I can’t recall anyone athlete in any sport saying they won’t play in CA, NY, Mass, etc because of tax burdens. If it were true how could a Canadian based team survive?
I agree that it’s overblown. It’s definitely a thing, but generally pretty low down the list of decision-making factors, I would think. That said, I feel like there was a football player this year who explicitly said he chose another team over the 49ers because of the taxes.
A while ago Fox’s wife talked specifically about the high taxes in California on Twitter and disputed the notion that you get taxed in other states for away games. It’s all California tax for Fox, I seem to recall.
So I think it is definitely a thing.
She certainly would know better than I do. That said, athletes absolutely pay non-resident taxes in each state they play in that has a “jock tax.” Which, I believe is nearly all states except Florida, Texas and a couple others.
Performers and others that make money in multiple states have to pay it too. Same applies to many/most international competitions.
Professional athletes and even the staff (trainers, coaches, etc..) that travels with them pay taxes in every state they get paid to play in.
How many players seek out Canadian teams to play for?
Maybe a few hockey players?
CFL players because they cannot stick in the NFL?
Those teams can off set the tax problem with other financial benefits. Bigger shoe deals for being in a bigger market. Endorsement deals with local businesses or corporations. More name recognition for playing in a larger market on a popular team.
Lots of ways playing in LA or SF generates dollars.
All of which get taxed aggressively, too.
Yes.
You will lose 30% in taxes but you will make 60% more.
Math.
13%
Eh, wealth goes a long way. These players make enough to have access to all kinds of investment strategies, tax loopholes, and attorneys that the hoi polloi don’t.
👍 for hoi oolkoi. Nice bhe.
And $80 is a big bag.
No it is not $200M but it is set for life for 30 year old (he’s 26 now).
Even w/taxes.
In my mind, staying with a team and fan base that fits him, puts him in a position where he was a close runner up for accolades (6MofY) is a big plus.
He’s a proven commodity here. Not that he couldn’t be elsewhere, but that wasn’t the case with his drafting team, Charlotte.
Philly is a big market, the others that are mentioned: Orlando, Detroit are (IMO) Sacramento-ish. Sacramento has become more attractive because they are now a winning team under Mike Brown and had 22 Nationally televised games this last season. Detroit has a long road ahead to be relevant. Sorta Charlotte-esque.
I don’t know, nor expect, that Sac will get that same number next season, but it will likely be >10, <20.
Will he stay in Sac? Magic 8-Ball consult says:
&ct=g
First, pretty much anywhere is nice to live if you’re wealthy. Places like Bloomfield Hills, Gross Pointe, and even out towards Ann Arbor are very, very nice. Second, there’s always the option of having your primary residence elsewhere and renting/buying an apartment near work. The short story is, when you’re making $20MM/year, there are A LOT of options.
I just hated the cold, snow, ice of the 6 month winters. It was miserable after living mostly in Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, and the East Bay.
May-September was nice though.
Came here to say unretire vlade’s jersey. Not drafting Luka and then that dumb trade that resulted in that 3/5 Philly swap that could given us a chance at Tatum. He potentially burned 10-15 years of this franchise…technically longer than his tenure as a king
‘Better team two decades ago.”
-Vlade
Still cannot fully blame Divac, it’s Vivek….who hired Divac.
Imagine Vivek did not fire PDA, PDA is an experienced smart guy, he would just obey what his boss like, (in which Vivek definitely love Luka), which would ended up with Doncic in 2018 draft….
PDA fired Malone, and hired George Karl the month before he left. So this is a lot like comparing Moe to Larry to Curly. Stooges, all of them.
Don’t forget pda let IT go for nothing.
As retaliation for conflicts with Malone, to boot.
The Three Bagleygos.
This would mean that Vlade didn’t obey Vivek? That would be all Vlade’s fault in that case
And they let that idiot sit courtside insteda, during a game against the Mavs…
Not many people I would heckle if I would meet them IRL, but Vlade would probably be one of them.
I can’t remember a more beloved figure in a franchise that has fallen from grace.
I blame Vivek, not Vlade. Vivek hired an unqualified GM and the results were as expected, a total clusterfk.
Personal accountability is not a thing, then?
So if Monte keeps kicking the can down the road and is too cost-conscious to pull the trigger on certain deals it’s all Vivek?
It’s not just that Vlade was unqualified. He was lazy and uninfornmed, appointed his buddy Peja as his little helper (still don’t know what he did to earn a paycheck), was DMC’s bitch and let him run the asylum while undercutting George Karl.
The guy can barely string together 2 coherent sentences.
Vlade cannot speak?
Vlade was terrible, fucked this franchise with his ineptitude. Zero accountability. Then invited to sit court side?
Vivek is worse. Dislike both. Wish Vivek wasn’t the owner but he is….so gotta hope he allows basketball people make the hoops decisions.
The fact that Vivek is still a ?-lurking is annoying.
I want the Kings to be run like a winning franchise.
They both screwed up. Just because Game 4 should never have come down to a last shot after having been up by 20 after the 1st doesn’t mean Vlade didn’t screw up by tipping to Horry.
I don’t really see the point in parsing the blame. They can just as easily share it for their individual roles.
I disagree with part of this. Yes, Vlade ruined us for sure. But, we would have been much worse off without the 3/5 Philly pick swap. Call it dumb luck if you will, but Danny Ainge pulled a fast one on Philly and If you don’t think Blockhead Vlade would not have fallen for this also, you are crazy. We would have had Fultz instead of Fox, and we all know how well Fultz worked out for Philly.
I know tanks are notoriously slow moving but seriously, you haven’t gotten past this yet?
Just here to say this makes me sad
I will bet the crib he resigns with the kings on a one year deal with a player option . I feel like teams learned from the hero and Jordan Poole deals . Pistons I think will use cap for contracts and picks . I don’t see the magic going after a small guard with 20 mill , they still have young players that need a chance . The spurs will draft a guard . Yeah we can relax guys & take a chill pill lol
OT: WTF? I’m guessing there will be an article on this soon.
https://x.com/basketbllnews/status/1799445028072513789
Yeah, there is, but Greg ruined our commenting.
When will Greg noticed it……….? lol
Back to the topic, it seems the team will buy him out, as there seems no market or no other NBA team would want him….
Hopefully, he can be used as salary filter…
If there is a team really looking to cut salary he could be valuable as a trade chip. It will come down to what his buyout number is. Those apron teams could potentially use this unique situation.
I think plenty of nba teams would be interested in Sasha. It might be more of a fit issue. The Kings play different.
first, on defense they do not have a rim protector. look at all the players who have been able to play next to Rudy Gobert. Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles, Naz Reid. Would they have had the same success in Sacramento? Not sure.
on offense, the Kings’ primary strategy seems to be playing fast, attacking before the defense has time to get set. Sasha’s strength is more in the half-court, where the Kings have struggled for years. is that Sasha’s problem? maybe not.
I fully believed Sasha coming over was irrelevant last year and him leaving will be equally irrelevant this year. I’ve never really understood what about his game other than shooting was supposed to translate to the NBA.
Shooting is kind of a big deal, especially for our “spray threes” approach. Also, he was excellent and moving without the ball and cuts to the baskets and a deent rebounder.
Our movement without the ball was almost non-existent this season, it felt like.
And although it is easy to blame his injuries, even when healthy, he never got the opportunity to find a rythm and show his stuff. Just another data point, just like Keon, where I think that Monte and Brown were not alligned. Or they were alligned and when things didn’t go as planned, Brown cramped up and went with whoever was in his comfort zone.
Shooting is important but he didn’t shoot it well enough to make a difference given his other deficiencies. I think his cutting and off ball movement were fine but I saw nothing about his game that would justify him getting minutes over about 9 or 10 other guys on the roster.
Again though, this was my opinion of his game after watching some of his Euro League stuff last year so I’m just not surprised. I think there’s a threshold for athleticism at the NBA level you have to have and it doesn’t look to me like he clears it.
The ironic thing here is for a team that regularly sells off their 2nd round picks, Monte trade one for the rights to Sasha. He then gave Sasha a significant contract of 3 years at $20M ($13M of which is guaranteed).
Basically the Kings are going to end up spending over $8M dollars for one year of service for on what was basically a second round pick. I get kicking the tires and searching for gem, but this was a bit of a blunder by Monte.
Yeah, but cash considerations covered about half of that amount…
The NBA draft is like a box of chocolates.
Yeah it’s a minor blunder but they definitely missed on this one.
Kind of par for the course for Monte….blunders, that is.
Give me a break. He has been our best GM in say the day the earth was born.
Wow…I thought you spent more than a month following this team.
I’ll bet more years than you have.
MM is the best?
Think hard.
Also, more than an hour before that report, a substantially different report came out.
https://x.com/matty_vanpersie/status/1799399822425981431
perspective- same “facts” different interpretations. In this case, did Kings inform him or did he inform the Kings in lack of interest.
Wiz want a second lottery pick- already have 2 and 26.
Bulls want out of LaVine contract. would they be so dumb as to give Kings something to take Zach?
Still need to match salaries. and 6M is not all of it but some of it.
not unexpected. All BB players of his experience and caliber have ego and pride. He is no exception. He “sh– the bed” this year. Kings made and evaluation mistake. Good idea though to take a gamble on him.
I don’t see him fitting in with a team that wants to win. He can play but is more suited for Washington, Charlotte, loser teams.
He may be a bot confused though about the term “contract” means. At this point he could be released but the Kings eat the salary either as a whole or a stretch. Bad idea. Next best idea, convince him that a change in scenery is what he needs and package him and his 6 M in a deal. Eo Wiz in a switch of 13 for 26, some players for Kuzma.
Or to Bulls+ others for LaVine.
I have no ill will but his value is trade piece.
I don’t think Kuzma and LaVine are the best players out there but the more realistic to get and the cheaper to get. Grant, Markenon, way high.
No on Lavine! Maybe on Kuzma?
Refused to come to the NBA when he was drafted. Hid out in second rate foreign leagues where he was comfortable. Didn’t want to come when the Kings traded for him. Kings begged him and paid him. He reluctantly arrived in the NBA. He looked extremely scared when he was on the floor playing. Didn’t play well. Didn’t want to be here. Mysteriously injured.
Now he quits. Let him go. He isn’t an NBA player because he doesn’t want to be. He belongs in Taiwan with Cousins.
The Sasha Vezenkov situation is no doubt disappointing to both sides.
The Kings invested heavily in bringing Sasha over here – a second round draft pick, time overseas scouting and courting and eventually an enticement of leaving his former club and committing $7M/season and a guaranteed roster spot.
And there is little doubt the talent is there, the guy was EuroLeague MVP for goodness sake. And we saw much goodness from #7 when he was on the court. I had hoped to see more and better this upcoming season.
The timing, the fit, who knows? but it was a gamble on both sides that rolled craps.
The only options I can see that work, moving forward, is a trade for a similar, and likely worse talent (Sac is a disadvantaged seller at this point) or for Sasha to retire which would wipe him off the Kings ledger (I believe, don’t quote me).
Seems a decent fellow, I wish him a better next step.
He has exactly zero control of his situation outside of retiring. Sounds much ado about nothing.
First time here?
Also, the commenst are closed on the Sasha article.
What the F- I can’t comment on the Vez debacle. Just terrible by the Kings.
A complete mess and miss. Why draft him if Brown wasn’t gonna use him? Why not play him more Briwn?
Fucked up-perfect example of how the Kings screwed this year up royally. Wasted player acquisition. Don’t even have a tradable asset.
The deal and season smacks of shit ownership/organization going back to their old ways
MM continues to shat the bed.
At this point, I’m leaning towards him just not being a good GM.
And there seems to be a disconnect between MM and the HC.
The clusterfk of an offseason continues, dating all the way back to last offseason.
The Kings make a quote. Sasha makes a quote. Now Monty is the worst GM on the planet. Give him and me a break.
“MM continues to shat the bed. At this point, I’m leaning towards him just not being a good GM.”
lol, what?
The Kings didn’t draft the clown.
How many of us would work in a place where we are comfortable and loved for $19.5M/year?
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