It's hard to believe that the Sacramento Kings spent a large portion of 2025 trying to trade Malik Monk. Time and time again, he has proven his value as one of the best bench scorers in the league. And he did it again last night by dropping 32 points on the Brooklyn Nets at home.
Everyone knows what path the Kings are on right now. They are in the midst of a full rebuild of the team, with the goal of getting younger, playing better defense, and actually becoming competitive in the Western Conference. It's been a long time since Sacramento has been any of those things.
That doesn't mean the front office needs to lose good players like Monk. He's been in the league since 2017 and has been a member of the Kings since 2022. At the age of 28, he's still on the right side of 30 and continues to be an offensive force off the bench when the ball is in his hands.
In last night's win over the Nets, Monk dropped 32 on eight of 17 shooting from the field, which wasn't exactly great. At the same time, he also shot seven of 13 from the three-point arc, which was a lot more impressive. While 21 of his points were threes, he also went nine for nine from the charity stripe.
Malik Monk is unstoppable when he's on his grind
It was a tough game for the Kings, with the Nets leading for a fair portion of it. The final score was tight, only 126 to 122 in favor of Sacramento. There were other key individual performances, but it's impossible to deny how important Monk was to this winning effort.
Russell Westbrook, Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, De'Andre Hunter, Daeqwon Plowden, Keegan Murray, and Drew Eubanks were all on the bench. This left the Kings with 10 active players. Sadly, that's more healthy guys than they've had in the last few games.
This is the time when players like Monk step up to get the job done, which is exactly what he did. In addition to his 32 points, Monk also had two rebounds, six assists, and one block. Those aren't huge numbers, but having him on a team is about knowing you have a reliable shooter on the bench.
As the rebuild progresses, the Kings would be smart to keep Monk on the roster. He is a battle-tested Sixth Man who makes a difference every time he plays. Sacramento will need Monk on the bench as a settling veteran presence as they continue to bring in more rookies and young guns.