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.
