Monk makes strong case to remain in Kings’ starting lineup

Monk makes strong case to remain in Kings’ starting lineup originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO – Malik Monk has made great money in the NBA by being an absolute beast off the bench. Now it appears as if last season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year runner-up is going to get more run with the Kings’ starting squad.

In his first start in a Kings’ uniform and his first in the NBA since the final game of the 2021-22 NBA season when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Monk provided a boost that ignited a much-needed spark for Sacramento on both ends.

While the end result was yet another defeat– the Kings’ sixth in their last seven games – Monk’s night provided a little silver lining in Sacramento’s 127-15 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at Golden 1 Center.

Coach Mike Brown liked what he saw enough to declare that Monk’s start definitely won’t be his last with the Kings but declined to say the move is a permanent one.

“Malik’s going to start. Will there come a day I want to change it? Maybe, I don’t know,” Brown said. “But what we’ve done so far hasn’t resulted in good things in terms of our record. So I felt like I needed to shake it up.”

Kevin Huerter took the first crack at the starting shooting guard spot and had mixed results. Huerter averaged a decent 10.4 points in 15 starts but the Kings were just 7-8 over that span.

Keon Ellis got his shot and made four starts, including Sacramento’s previous three games. The Kings went 2-2 in Ellis’ four starts.

Huerter wasn’t available to play against the Spurs due to a right ankle injury he tweaked during Friday’s loss in Portland. Even if Huerter was healthy, however, Brown likely would have still started Monk.

Monk welcomed the news but would have preferred his day end a little bit more positively.

“Definitely wanted to win but thankful I got my first start here,” said Monk, who signed with the Kings prior to the 2022-23 season after starting 37 games for the Los Angeles Lakers in the previous season. “Took me three years but I’m here now so hopefully it’ll continue. But yeah, bittersweet for sure.”

Monk dropped 19 points with five 3-pointers on the Spurs and was one of three Kings starters to not finish negative in the plus-minus category.

The 26-year-old didn’t put up great numbers but he did a little bit of everything. He shot 7 of 14 from the bench, was .500 on his 3-point shots (5 of 10) and had seven rebounds, six assists and a steal.

“It was good but at the end of the day we still lost, and it’s about winning and losing in this league so we gotta figure it out,” Brown said. “I’m definitely going to give it some time and hopefully we can figure out doing the things we need to do to get over the hump.”

The Kings were tripped up against the Spurs by most of the same hurdles that have been their stumbling blocks all season.

Specifically, San Antonio made 23-of-46 3-point attempts, several of them being the wide-open variety. Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs’ 7-foot-3 center, nailed five 3s alone.

“Attention to detail I feel like is lacking a little bit,” Monk said. “We get up 15 then have four mental breaks and now they’re back into the game. I feel like we just have to pay way more attention to the details than we normally do.

“We’re going to turn it around, I know we are.”

As for being a starter again, Monk kept a simple perspective.

“I was happy because it finally happened, of course,” he said. “I think we started great with energy and kept it up for a little bit but it seems like we can’t play 48 minutes. That’s on us to figure out.”

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