I’m not convinced that a Monk Sabonis pick and roll can’t be that go to solution. I heard an interesting point on the Simmons show that Fox and Sabonis struggle a bit because both are primarily left handed. They were saying it in terms of Fox and Wemby but it would also be true of Monk and Sabonis. That may be partly why Monk can make some passes to Domas that Fox doesn’t make
The Monk-Sabonis pick and roll is, of course, a deadly weapon in the Kings' offensive arsenal. But when I say a "go to" option, I mean somebody you can hand the ball in the fourth quarter and let them go to work when the defense is taking away every other option, closing out tightly on your open shooters, and blowing up your P&R's. Fox and DeRozan are both
that guy. DeRozan won't be for much longer, and Fox doesn't appear long for this team, so the Kings will need to find a replacement for the pressure a player like that can create. You're just not going far in the playoffs without it. You might not even be able to make it to the playoffs in the west without it.
I know Kings fans can sometimes get a little sanguine about terms like "team-first basketball", "pure PG", etc., but success in the NBA almost always comes on the backs of star talents with go-to capability, who can bend the defense to their will when their team needs them to do so. I'm guessing that's the reason Monte McNair believed in Fox in the first place, and it's a shame that Fox couldn't fully deliver on that promise. So now it seems as if it's time to pivot. It's unlikely that the Kings will get a "replacement" for Fox's go-to ability in any Fox trade, so Monte's got work to do in the months to come to figure out how to bring that back to Sacramento. DDR is a solid temporary solution, as long as he doesn't request a trade of his own, of course.