I’m very surprised….figured Orlando was a no brainer destination given their need, cap space, fun team that probably would promise him a starting spot, and closer proximity to his roots growing up. The minor blowups with coach brown late last year also made me think maybe they were starting to irritate each other. I guess he really does love it here.
Monk is back!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter iowamcnabb
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They cant officially sign him until July which is why he wrote "INTENDS".
I honestly think the likelihood of him leaving was a bit overblown, mostly peddled by media who dont watch the kings at all, and we as well as your local media got caught up into it because of the collective trauma of the past 18 years (starting with Bonzie leaving a good thing to go get washed up).
Reason is NOT that other teams didnt want him, but because i think that he genuinely loves:
Playing for this coach (who trusts him with big time decisions in big moments even with Fox and Sabonis on the court, whereas every other coach either trusted other players more, or flat out didnt trust him or help him grow or even stunted his growth).
Playing in this city whose fans genuinely love and support. For the first time in his career he has 18K fans screaming his name and cheering their hearts out FOR HIM.
Playing next to his best friend.
Playing meaningful games as a featured player (would not happen in detroit).
I think he was never wanting to leave unless the offer was crazy. Near 25M/yr. 3M/yr more than the kings could offer him wasnt going to cut it i think.
I honestly think the likelihood of him leaving was a bit overblown, mostly peddled by media who dont watch the kings at all, and we as well as your local media got caught up into it because of the collective trauma of the past 18 years (starting with Bonzie leaving a good thing to go get washed up).
Reason is NOT that other teams didnt want him, but because i think that he genuinely loves:
Playing for this coach (who trusts him with big time decisions in big moments even with Fox and Sabonis on the court, whereas every other coach either trusted other players more, or flat out didnt trust him or help him grow or even stunted his growth).
Playing in this city whose fans genuinely love and support. For the first time in his career he has 18K fans screaming his name and cheering their hearts out FOR HIM.
Playing next to his best friend.
Playing meaningful games as a featured player (would not happen in detroit).
I think he was never wanting to leave unless the offer was crazy. Near 25M/yr. 3M/yr more than the kings could offer him wasnt going to cut it i think.
I think Malik is such a competitor, that he thrives with that style of coaching. He wants someone that's going to push him back and push him to keep getting better.
They may have been slightly irritated with each other at times, but the proof is in the pudding. Monk has never been better than he's been under Brown as a feature offensive option that's trusted to close games.
I do wonder if there was a handshake deal for him to start. That'd be very very fun
They may have been slightly irritated with each other at times, but the proof is in the pudding. Monk has never been better than he's been under Brown as a feature offensive option that's trusted to close games.
I do wonder if there was a handshake deal for him to start. That'd be very very fun
Analytics say he shouldn't start, and beyond that I think we are at our best with Keon starting and Monk being first off the bench and distributing the scoring around when Fox or Domas are off the floor. Honestly just happy he's back right now and we don't have to fill his hole. If a promise to start was included in this deal, so be it. The fact that this is "done" before the draft is huge. I still think if teams are looking to sell their picks we should be in on that. Possibly moving a player for a pick could open up more salary space in a second trade or maybe even get us the non-taxpayer MLE?
Free agency is going to be very interesting this year - with Monk off the board - you have to figure he got word $25m/per deals were not on the table. A lot of people thought funny money would still be thrown around but it really is starting to look like teams might be tightening their purse strings.
Free agency is going to be very interesting this year - with Monk off the board - you have to figure he got word $25m/per deals were not on the table. A lot of people thought funny money would still be thrown around but it really is starting to look like teams might be tightening their purse strings.
couple things here
1.) IF a team like Orlando paid Monk 25-30MM+ a season, they are sorta limiting their ceiling. Not that Monk is anything like Jordan Poole, but look at that albatross contract.
2.) Being closer to his roots. Meh. Like some player dream about playing in their home town (Playoff P) and it might not be all cracked up to what they thought it was going to be. Also, Orlando is just closer, it's not anywhere near where he grew up.
3.) I actually thought the "blow ups" between he and coach were great. It shows they have a great relationship and trust each other enough to be able to handle that. I think we tend to look for something, because we've been conditioned.
1.) IF a team like Orlando paid Monk 25-30MM+ a season, they are sorta limiting their ceiling. Not that Monk is anything like Jordan Poole, but look at that albatross contract.
2.) Being closer to his roots. Meh. Like some player dream about playing in their home town (Playoff P) and it might not be all cracked up to what they thought it was going to be. Also, Orlando is just closer, it's not anywhere near where he grew up.
3.) I actually thought the "blow ups" between he and coach were great. It shows they have a great relationship and trust each other enough to be able to handle that. I think we tend to look for something, because we've been conditioned.
Is this the same analytics that supposedly tells the MIT pencil pushers that a batter shouldn’t bunt toward 3rd base against the shift and instead should be swinging for the fence? How can analytics know for sure when there’s not close to even sample size against because nobody does it?
In Monk’s case, he’s only started 38 games over his entire 7 year career. How can analytics know anything, because we haven’t seen it?
Extrapolating and forecasting his numbers/efficiency as a reserve is flawed. Because his role, his focus, and the lineup rotations are different.
All I know is, when he finishes games playing with mostly starters — he seems to be pretty good.
I believe analytics should hold out for a large sample size of Monk actually starting games with Coach Brown figuring out and locking in the best rotations he can then see how it looks.
The above all said, I tend to prefer MM coming off the bench for various reasons. However the inconsistency from Huerter the past season and a half have me wondering whether the KINGS might be better off with MM filling that starters role. The flawed analytics certainly wouldn’t prevent me from finding out first hand.
In Monk’s case, he’s only started 38 games over his entire 7 year career. How can analytics know anything, because we haven’t seen it?
Extrapolating and forecasting his numbers/efficiency as a reserve is flawed. Because his role, his focus, and the lineup rotations are different.
All I know is, when he finishes games playing with mostly starters — he seems to be pretty good.
I believe analytics should hold out for a large sample size of Monk actually starting games with Coach Brown figuring out and locking in the best rotations he can then see how it looks.
The above all said, I tend to prefer MM coming off the bench for various reasons. However the inconsistency from Huerter the past season and a half have me wondering whether the KINGS might be better off with MM filling that starters role. The flawed analytics certainly wouldn’t prevent me from finding out first hand.
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I have the utmost confidence there will be no purse tightening anywhere. Every single year there’s stupid contracts thrown out the second FA opens. We got lucky with Monk on contract 1, from the moment that was signed it was a bargain, and then he fell in love and we got another discount. Doesn’t change what the rest of the league is going to do.
And like with Manu, if the Kings need scoring punch Monk is finishing the game anyway and that's important. The only issue moving on is how badly outmatched the guard teams looked against size towards the end of the season. It might only get worse next season. Throwing 3 non physically dominant 170-180 pound guys out there could very well continue to be a slaughter depending on the matchups. I just hope Brown keeps playing the pressure ball he did towards the end of the year. That's the only way to even stand a chance against a team like the Pels.
It's the on off splits with Monk and the first unit vs. Keon or Kevin. Keon is the clear winner and when you factor in that Monk comes in and still plays major minutes and when Fox or Domas are off is the clear first or second option, I think you need to keep that in play.
But if it got him to stay...
But if it got him to stay...
They can prepare all they want, it's the "a team had offered" line that gets me. D-Lo is a sports journalist, so he ought to know the NBA tampering rules and not be so careless with his language as to imply that a team that had not contacted Monk had actually done so. I dunno. I don't know D-Lo from J-Lo to be honest. But if Detroit and Charlotte contacted Monk, I don't want Detroit and Charlotte making any second round picks in the near future.
We know this stuff not going direct through front office, it's player to player or maybe a player with a shared agent says "oh man, I hear our FO really wants Malik on the team and are gonna make a huge offer on the 1st".
Whatever happened, in this case we benefit by knowing ahead of the draft. Everyone benefits knowing if they can retain current players entering unrestricted free agency before the draft so maybe the league could rectify this situation. It's not like the start of free agency and the draft taking having their times swapped would take the NBA out of the news cycle, I obviously get the tidiness of the fiscal year, but come on.
Whatever happened, in this case we benefit by knowing ahead of the draft. Everyone benefits knowing if they can retain current players entering unrestricted free agency before the draft so maybe the league could rectify this situation. It's not like the start of free agency and the draft taking having their times swapped would take the NBA out of the news cycle, I obviously get the tidiness of the fiscal year, but come on.
Again, on off splits are misleading. For some of the reasons I already stated.
If Keon was really better playing alongside the 4 of Sabonis, Fox, HB, and Keegan -- then why does MM usually finish games as part of the KINGS "death lineup" (I say that tongue-in-cheek lol)?
It's because when the game is on the line, MM is one of the KINGS best all-around players, and certainly such a prolific offensive threat that he needs to be on the floor when things matter the most. The KINGS are typically at their best when he's among the best 5 on the floor.
So why not set an early tone with the best 5? It can easily be argued that a guy like Keon is best suited to be the guy that is used situationally, when defensive match ups call for it.
I agree with you that MM's playmaking abilities seem to be best suited for when Domas and/or Fox are not on the floor or running the offense. Which is why he's been coming off the bench. But I also believe Mike Brown could do a better job diversifying the offense when MM is on the floor with Swipa and Domas, making the offense less predictable and harder to defend.
Swipa has become a good enough perimeter threat to play off the ball (which he often does when MM and he play together in crunch time). There's no reason Coach Brown can't occasionally run the offense through MM rather than almost always defaulting to Domas at the high post. Basically do a better job mixing it up between those three super talented, versatile players.
And one way to really work on that is to start them all together and play them heavy minutes together. Then let's re-evaluate the on off splits.
If Keon was really better playing alongside the 4 of Sabonis, Fox, HB, and Keegan -- then why does MM usually finish games as part of the KINGS "death lineup" (I say that tongue-in-cheek lol)?
It's because when the game is on the line, MM is one of the KINGS best all-around players, and certainly such a prolific offensive threat that he needs to be on the floor when things matter the most. The KINGS are typically at their best when he's among the best 5 on the floor.
So why not set an early tone with the best 5? It can easily be argued that a guy like Keon is best suited to be the guy that is used situationally, when defensive match ups call for it.
I agree with you that MM's playmaking abilities seem to be best suited for when Domas and/or Fox are not on the floor or running the offense. Which is why he's been coming off the bench. But I also believe Mike Brown could do a better job diversifying the offense when MM is on the floor with Swipa and Domas, making the offense less predictable and harder to defend.
Swipa has become a good enough perimeter threat to play off the ball (which he often does when MM and he play together in crunch time). There's no reason Coach Brown can't occasionally run the offense through MM rather than almost always defaulting to Domas at the high post. Basically do a better job mixing it up between those three super talented, versatile players.
And one way to really work on that is to start them all together and play them heavy minutes together. Then let's re-evaluate the on off splits.
Guys realize how freaking awesome Kings fans are when there's a great product on the floor and when a player shows love back to the city. We STILL worship our golden era Kings team from 20 years ago, and they didn't even win a title. Literally all of them come back. Harry freaking Giles gets standing ovations every time we see him
Not only that, but it has to feel amazing from Monk's perspective that he was one of the major players to build this team back up from the mud. He laid groundwork here and I think he wants to finish it.
Not only that, but it has to feel amazing from Monk's perspective that he was one of the major players to build this team back up from the mud. He laid groundwork here and I think he wants to finish it.
Again, on off splits are misleading. For some of the reasons I already stated.
If Keon was really better playing alongside the 4 of Sabonis, Fox, HB, and Keegan -- then why does MM usually finish games as part of the KINGS "death lineup" (I say that tongue-in-cheek lol)?
It's because when the game is on the line, MM is one of the KINGS best all-around players, and certainly such a prolific offensive threat that he needs to be on the floor when things matter the most. The KINGS are typically at their best when he's among the best 5 on the floor.
So why not set an early tone with the best 5? It can easily be argued that a guy like Keon is best suited to be the guy that is used situationally, when defensive match ups call for it.
I agree with you that MM's playmaking abilities seem to be best suited for when Domas and/or Fox are not on the floor or running the offense. Which is why he's been coming off the bench. But I also believe Mike Brown could do a better job diversifying the offense when MM is on the floor with Swipa and Domas, making the offense less predictable and harder to defend.
Swipa has become a good enough perimeter threat to play off the ball (which he often does when MM and he play together in crunch time). There's no reason Coach Brown can't occasionally run the offense through MM rather than almost always defaulting to Domas at the high post. Basically do a better job mixing it up between those three super talented, versatile players.
And one way to really work on that is to start them all together and play them heavy minutes together. Then let's re-evaluate the on off splits.
If Keon was really better playing alongside the 4 of Sabonis, Fox, HB, and Keegan -- then why does MM usually finish games as part of the KINGS "death lineup" (I say that tongue-in-cheek lol)?
It's because when the game is on the line, MM is one of the KINGS best all-around players, and certainly such a prolific offensive threat that he needs to be on the floor when things matter the most. The KINGS are typically at their best when he's among the best 5 on the floor.
So why not set an early tone with the best 5? It can easily be argued that a guy like Keon is best suited to be the guy that is used situationally, when defensive match ups call for it.
I agree with you that MM's playmaking abilities seem to be best suited for when Domas and/or Fox are not on the floor or running the offense. Which is why he's been coming off the bench. But I also believe Mike Brown could do a better job diversifying the offense when MM is on the floor with Swipa and Domas, making the offense less predictable and harder to defend.
Swipa has become a good enough perimeter threat to play off the ball (which he often does when MM and he play together in crunch time). There's no reason Coach Brown can't occasionally run the offense through MM rather than almost always defaulting to Domas at the high post. Basically do a better job mixing it up between those three super talented, versatile players.
And one way to really work on that is to start them all together and play them heavy minutes together. Then let's re-evaluate the on off splits.
For a Kings team that has never had issues with scoring enough points, I'm not sure why we'd look at a guy who pretty much singlehandedly improved the defense and say that we should bench him to start two scoring guards who are both at their best with the ball in their hands and looking to attack or playmake for others.
Also, what was one of the Kings biggest issues last season? Inconsistent bench play. This was made even more glaring when Malik went down. Many nights he essentially WAS the bench scoring. I absolutely love Monk And as a huge fan I hope he keeps his role as the best 6th man in the NBA. If anything, Monte needs to beef up the second unit to help him.
