When Malik Monk joined forces with his former Kentucky teammate, De’Aaaron Fox, it brought back all the 2017 nostalgic feelings. It turns out Big Blue Nation wasn’t the only folks happy with the reunion. Monk has fit right in with Sacramento and the Kings made it a priority to keep the league’s most dynamic scorer off the bench on their team.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped the bomb that Monk will sign a four-year $78 million deal with the Kings, which includes a player option in the final year of the contract. The deal marks a huge raise for Monk, who made just over $9 million per season the last two years in Sacramento after bouncing around between the Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers over the course of his rookie contract.
$78 million is the maximum contract the Kings could offer Monk without him hitting free agency.
Monk had career-highs in both points and assists last season, finishing with 15.4 points per game, and 5.1 assists per game. These numbers also led the NBA in bench production, but somehow, he got hosed for the 6th Man of the Year trophy. Writers who clearly didn’t know any better voted him 2nd.
Unfortunately, a knee injury sidelined Monk for the final nine games and the play-in tournament, but he looks to build on the Kings’ tremendous momentum they’ve built over the last two years.
This deal will ensure Fox and Monk will stay united for those random West Coast games you can play in the background while you fall asleep on the couch. Now if we can somehow get Bam Adebayo to Sacramento, we can recreate what should have been Kentucky’s 9th National Championship team.
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