So, all that Devin Carter and Malik Monk drama was kind of weird, right? There never seemed to be any concrete reason the Kings had to sacrifice Carter or Monk to sign Russell Westbrook, even though the team seemed hellbent on trading at least one of them. But it appears (for now) that they won't do that, avoiding the worst-case scenario in the guard room.
Westbrook agreed to a one-year, $3.6 million deal with the Kings on Wednesday, and Carter, Monk, and Keon Ellis all remain on the roster as well.
Thank goodness! The next problem, regarding minute distribution and their roles on the 2025-26 Kings, now becomes the debate at hand — but that's surely better than the alternative.
Also, if Russell Westbrook, in his 18th season, ruins the development of Devin Carter or Keon Ellis, or intrudes on the production of Malik Monk, then either Russell Westbrook had an unbelievable redemption arc, or one of the young guards isn't developing like fans expect.
Kings have a rotation problem, but that's better than the alternative
Yes, I understand that Dennis Schroder, Russell Westbrook, Malik Monk, Devin Carter, and Keon Ellis is a crowded point guard room. But a logjam at a position is better than trading a recent first-round pick who's played under 400 minutes. And I don't think that's too controversial an opinion.
A future Hall-of-Famer wanted to sign with the Kings for one season on a near-veteran minimum deal. That's fine! Good, in fact! Does it matter that no other NBA team was overly interested in him? In this case, no, I don't think that matters at all.
The Kings also still have two young, high-upside guards who now get to play alongside one of the best point guards of the 21st century. That's not so bad, either!
Doug Christie will have to get creative with his lineups. Can Dennis Schroder, Keon Ellis, and Malik Monk coexist? What about Carter, Schroder, and Russ?
I don't know the answers to those questions, but it's also important that we're realistic here; the Kings aren't competing for a title this year, and experimentation would have been an important tenet of this team anyway. Thus, getting as many playable guys as possible will never be a bad thing, especially when the latest one is a legend who, almost 20 years in, still plays with the intensity of a 26 year-old.
Some fans will tell you that signing Russell Westbrook was the greatest move ever, and others will tell you it was the front office's dumbest decision in an existence full of dumb decisions. I land somewhere in the middle — but I can confidently say that keeping Devin Carter, Malik Monk, and Keon Ellis is the most important part of this whole fiasco, so... Good job, Kings?