“There is a lot of smoke” about Malik Monk signing with the kings once free agency opens at 5:00pm CT, multiple sources tell James Ham of ESPN 1320 and The Kings Beat (twitter link).
Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee hears similarly, reporting (via Twitter) that he’s getting “strong indications” from sources that Monk could be reuniting with former Kentucky teammate De’Aaron Fox. Monk and Fox were both lottery picks in 2017.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report was the first to link Monk to the Kings on a Spotify Live appearance with Marc Stein late Wednesday night.
Monk struggled to find a team last summer after the Hornets didn’t tender him a qualifying offer, but became one of the best values in the league on a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Lakers. Monk had a career-year last season, averaging 13.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 2.9 APG on .473/.391/.795 shooting in 76 games (37 starts, 28.1 MPG).
LA only holds Non-Bird rights on Monk and will be limited to a contract that starts at the taxpayer mid-level exception, which is projected to be $6.5MM next season.
The Kings could offer Monk the mid-level exception, projected to be worth about $10.5MM next season, for as many as four years. There’s also a possibility that Sacramento could open up some cap space to sign him outright, depending on if the team makes some trades and releases some of their cap holds.
Monk, 24, is reportedly looking for a role where he can receive significant minutes and “be himself,” as he recently told Jovan Buha of The Athletic.