Monk noticeably got seldom used again by Sacramento, leading to the belief this Western Conference contender will soon poach him.
The Sacramento Kings trusted Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan to take the final shot against the Dallas Mavericks. Plus have handed Dennis Schroeder lots of minutes while also starting rookie Maxime Raynaud.
Each move, however, further buries Malik Monk and Keon Ellis.
Both players also ended up in a battle for more minutes off the bench by head coach Doug Christie.
Monk noticeably lost minutes and sometimes never got inserted by Christie. He's risen as the subject of trade rumors before Christmas.
Monk got ruled as a "did not play, coach's decision" in the 100-98 loss. This scene Tuesday even got captured after the game as Monk kept his warmup attire on.
But now ESPN 1320 AM's James Ham is hearing a Western Conference contender is interested in poaching Monk.
"I have heard there's a possibility the Minnesota Timberwolves might be interested in Malik," Ham stated. "They're further along in their build where they need to figure out some way to get over the hump."
Monk holds value as a sixth man. Yet Ellis earned 23 minutes facing the liked of Anthony Davis, Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks. He finished scoring only five points.
Yet Ellis is another facing a nebulous future with the franchise. And the Kings insider and Sacramento radio personality Ham believes Ellis is another on his way out.
"Keon Ellis is not signing back," Ham adds. "And if he does, it's because the Kings have to overpay him. But I don't think either of those things are going to happen. I honestly don't believe he'll be on this team when we get past the trade deadline."
He adds a "memo" that likely got presented to Ellis.
"I think they already got the memo: He's not getting the minutes that he wants to," Ham said.
Still, Ham believes the regime change has a lot to do with the disorganization of minutes between both veteran players.
"But that's what happens -- there's always going to be players who get lost when you switch head coaches," Ham said.
Monk is one of the last members of the Kings team that ended their 16-year playoff absence under Mike Brown. Now Brown is leading the New York Knicks to one of the league's best marks.
Christie has a roster that's teetering toward witnessing changes ahead of the league's trade deadline set for Feb. 5. Monk and Ellis aren't the only names hearing trade chatter on the Kings, though.
Zach LaVine is overhearing trade chatter -- even reportedly trying to land with the Atlanta Hawks before that got blown up.