The Sacramento Kings are just 3-6 to start the season, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a positive storyline to start the year. Russell Westbrook is making headlines with his vintage performances, and Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan continue to receive well-deserved recognition, but there is one player who has quietly had a great start to the year in a familiar role: Malik Monk.
Monk has been the subject of trade rumors all offseason, from the Detroit Pistons’ sign-and-trade negotiations to the months-long Jonathan Kuminga saga; it looked like the Sixth Man of the Year candidate was on his way out of Sacramento. But instead, he’s back for his fourth season in Sacramento and playing great basketball off the bench again.
On the season, Monk is averaging 16.3 points, 2.1 assists and 1.9 rebounds on 55.4% shooting from the field and 52.9% from three. This is a slight drop in overall scoring, as Monk averaged 17.2 points last season, but he made 14.4 field goal attempts per game last year. This season, he is only scoring 10.6 baskets per game.
And even though he’s not facilitating like he has in the past, there is one stat that stands out that shows how Monk has maintained his scoring with increased efficiency. His overall three-point percentage of 52.9% is extremely impressive, but a closer look shows even more. His catch-and-shoot three-point percentage stands at a staggering 60.9% through his first seven games of the season.
During training camp, Monk talked about how he worked on his catch-and-shoot threes during the offseason, and it’s still a small sample size, but the work is paying off early this year. This is by far the highest catch-and-shoot look mark in his nine-year career, as he shot just 34.7 percent on his look last season.
This Kings team is loaded with scorers and players who thrive with the ball in their hands, so they need players who can simply make three points on a catch. We still see Monk get to the rim and create for others, but him improving his efficiency on easy looks has been huge for the team so far.
There are still a lot of questions about this Kings season, and it’s possible Monk’s name resurfaces in trade rumors, but there’s no denying he’s playing excellent basketball. This is even more impressive after a tumultuous offseason filled with trade rumors. The gaudy catch and shoot numbers might end up being a small fluke of sample size, but for now, hats off to Monk for putting in the work during the offseason and getting the early results.
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