Malik Monk, one of the few bright spots on last season’s miserable Los Angeles Lakers, will sign with the Sacramento Kings on a two-year, $19 million deal, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The Lakers were interested in retaining Monk, but could only offer him the $6.5 million taxpayer mid-level exception. The Kings will provide him with a nice raise in pay to jump from Southern California up north.
The first four years of Monk’s career as a Charlotte Hornet were uneven, so when he became a free agent last offseason, only the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks called him. The Lakers recruited him heavily and he ultimately agreed to come to Los Angeles on a minimum-salary contract. That opportunity wound up working quite well for the former lottery pick.
From Christmas onward, Monk averaged 16.2 points per game on 48.3 percent shooting from the field and 40.5 percent shooting from behind the arc. His defense certainly needs work and he has room to grow as a playmaker, but Monk is growing into one of the more dangerous secondary scorers in the NBA.
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In Sacramento, he will reunite with college teammate De’Aaron Fox. The two of them starred together at Kentucky and were famously close, and both expressed devastation after their season-ending loss to North Carolina in the NCAA tournament. Now the two of them will play together in the NBA and attempt to reach the postseason for the first time.
The Kings have been out of the playoffs for 17 years, but have made aggressive moves to try to work their way back into the race. With Monk, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis in place, they are hoping that Fox finally has the supporting cast he needs to carry the Kings back into the postseason.
