Yes, I know that Malik Monk is still a member of the Sacramento Kings. Technically. He hasn't played in the preseason, supposedly because of ankle soreness. Or this is an extension of his inconsistent usage last season under Doug Christie. One has to wonder if the Kings even have a plan for Monk.
If you want to talk about fan-favorite Kings' players, Monk has to be near the top of the list. He was a key part of the Beam Team era, a sparkplug off the bench that drove scoring. There's a reason why Monk was a Sixth Man of the Year finalist the season Naz Reid took the award home.
Once Christie became head coach, the game changed for Monk. To be more precise, his usage declined rather dramatically. There was no predicting from one night to the next whether Monk would hit the court. And there was no real reason given as to why from any level of the organization.
Over the 2025 offseason, the Kings reportedly tried to trade Monk, an effort that seemed to continue into the regular season. As usual, Sacramento's asking price was too high, and nothing materialized. Eventually, the front office just stopped shopping him around.
Monk shouldn't anything different from the Kings this season
The preseason has been an extension of what was going on in 2025-2026. Monk spent the entire time on the bench, and no one could get a clear answer from Christie at first. Some speculated that Monk is injured. Eventually, the Kings claimed Monk had ankle soreness. How vague.
Monk may be a league veteran, but he still needs a chance to shake the offseason rust and get back up to NBA speed. Plus, there are a lot of new players on this roster Monk hasn't worked with in an actual game setting. This is the time to start finding the bugs in the system and work them out.
Instead, Monk was stuck on the bench with no reason given other than a mysterious injury, alongside surprisingly few details or a return timeline. It could be that the Kings are working on trading him again and are just keeping it quiet. They also might be trying to encourage him to leave via his player option.
Whatever the Kings are doing with Monk, it so far seems like a complete waste of a talented bench player who can hit timely shots to get a stagnant offense rolling. Considering how badly the Kings did last season as well as this preseason, a little more Monk might be exactly what this team needs.
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