Sacramento Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox is showing some love to one of his teammates as that player's future with the team is in doubt. Fox is expressing his appreciation for Malik Monk, as Monk is about to head into the free agency waters.
“Malik was great for us. Obviously, I would love to have him back,” Fox said, per the Sacramento Bee. “But you know, I don't I don't know what the future holds. At the end of the day this is a business. You can only play basketball for so long.”
The Kings are out of the NBA playoffs, after losing to the New Orleans Pelicans. New Orleans knocked off the Kings on Friday night, 105-98. Sacramento's season ends in total disappointment, as the Kings had put up some great numbers most of the season and seemed poised to make a deep playoff run in the Western Conference. The Kings struggled down the stretch, losing six of the last ten regular season games on their schedule.
Kings' young stars
Sacramento has a group of young guns in their backcourt. Fox finished the season with a 26 points per game scoring average, including a 35-point performance against the Pelicans. The young point guard has been with the team since 2017, and averages more than 21 points a game in his career.
He and Monk have made a solid connection together. Monk averaged 15 points this season for the Kings, his second with the team. He came to the franchise from the L.A. Lakers in 2022, and worked his way into the team's rotation. Both Fox and Monk played their college basketball at the University of Kentucky under John Calipari.
Time will tell if the two players' days running the floor together are over. The Kings are likely to make some moves this offseason to try and build a championship roster. The team has struggled to find their way among some of the powers in the Western Conference in recent years. The franchise has only one division title in the last 20 years, and that was in 2023.
Monk was unable to play in the Pelicans game, due to a knee injury that has lingered for several weeks. Kings fans surely will speculate what the season could have looked like if the shooting guard was able to stay healthy. Monk had a career-high scoring average this season.
“He was extremely big for us,” Fox said about Monk, per Yahoo Sports. “People that watched us play know that he should be Sixth Man of the Year. I feel like what he gave to us in the two years he has been here, he showed the value, what he can do for a team.”
Kings fans eagerly await to see what happens with their shooting guard.
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