It's hard to find a better guy off the bench than Malik Monk. After spending most of the last year trying to get rid of him, the Sacramento Kings have finally seemed to accept that he is still an important part of the team. Monk definitely proved that against the Bulls on Sunday.
A long-time member of the Kings' roster and a former Sixth Man of the Year contender, Monk has been important to basketball in Sacramento. This was certainly the case against Chicago, where he had 30 points, four rebounds, five assists, and one block, all in just under 30 minutes on the court.
Monk might still need to work on his efficiency a bit. He went 11 of 24 from the field. It's good that he was taking a lot of shots, but far less good that he only hit 45.8% of them. A stronger opponent than the Bulls would have taken advantage of a major opening like that.
Like the rest of the Kings' squad, Monk also played a relatively clean game. He only had two personal fouls and committed exactly zero turnovers. Credit where credit is due, the Sacramento roster only had three turnovers total in the entire game. Still, this was Monk proving his value yet again.
Malik Monk remains the beating heart of the Sacramento Kings
Since joining the team in 2022, the veteran guard has been the key to making the Sacramento bench effective. When Monk is given minutes and puts him to work properly, he's an explosive scorer who breathes life into the team's secondary. That becomes even more evident when he isn't used.
For odd chunks of the season, head coach Doug Christie chose not to utilize Monk. He benched Malik for several games in a row, perplexing players, commentators, journalists, and even Monk himself. There didn't seem to be an evident reason for it other than having too many guards.
Really, that felt like an excuse more than anything else. Many thought it was an overture that would lead to a trade, but that never materialized. Instead, Christie randomly started putting Monk back in the rotation once again, though his minutes and usage became sporadic at best.
The recent Kings' victory proved that Malik Monk can still play at an elite level, as well as offering leadership off the bench. The Kings will need him in the rebuild because of that. More importantly, Sacramento fans love having him on the roster, and he will be irreplaceable in keeping them on board.