Fan favorite Malik Monk's trade looms. Sacramento faces a tough decision, weighing fan sentiment against the allure of crucial draft capital.
The Sacramento Kings' front office and general manager Scott Perry should be ready and fully prepared to begin a massive fire-sale to land draft capital in exchange for their players that are most conducive to winning.
The only question to ask with regard to selling on their most impactful players is to what length will the franchise go to extract the most value possible out of the top portion of the roster?
Speculation has led plenty of Kings fans and media members to believe that of the team's available names on the trade market, former Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Malik Monk will be one to monitor.
Monk is still an efficient score-first, ask-questions-later shooting guard who can help a contending team's second unit night-in and night-out, but Kings supporters would surely hate to see the versatile shot-creator leave.
In fact, Sactown Sports 1140's Carmichael Dave expressed these thoughts during a recent radio appearance, though he acknowledged that the Kings ultimately deciding to trade the microwave scorer is the right move.
"I don't want Malik Monk to get traded," Dave shared Tuesday morning.
"Full stop... But he's probably getting traded," Dave continued.
"Him doing well is fantastic for the Kings, but it's fantastic for the trade market as well."
Monk's electricity, three-point shooting and high-flying antics have made him a fan-favorite, but there's no question that Sacramento dealing him away is the most likely outcome prior to the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
In 32 appearances so far this season for the Kings, Monk has contributed 11.9 points and 2.4 assists while connecting on a blistering 42.3% of his three-point tries. The 27-year-old flamethrower has caught fire as of late, scoring a combined 41 points and shooting 9-for-13 on threes over his past two games.
While his current production and energy that he brings to the group every night is already a cause for wishing that he'll stick around past the deadline, another reason why it'll be tough to ship him away is because it will mark yet another departure of a core piece from the Kings' incredible 2023 group.
Monk's nonstop offensive spark was one of the cogs in Sacramento's scoring machine in 2022-23, when the team led the NBA in scoring with 120.7 points, proving to be one of the most dominant offensive groups in league history to that point.
In return for Monk, the Kings should be looking for some form of draft capital, possibly a first-round pick from a team desperate to add some form of scoring punch to its bench rotation.
Join the Community! Don't miss out on our NETS ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news! It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected.