What will Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter Provide For The Kings?
The Kings signed Malik Monk to a 2-year $19 million deal and traded a protected future first round pick for Kevin Huerter.
After the Sacramento Kings Selected Keegan Murray with this year's draft pick, it was now time for general manager Monte McNair and the team to turn their attention to free agency.
The Kings have never really signed big players in free agency due to lack of cap space or not being able to lure the players they want over. With little to no cap space once again, McNair’s options would be limited and most additions would probably have to come by trade.
McNair made it clear to everyone that he would be aggressive this off-season and he has delivered so far by spending the MLE on athletic shooter Malik Monk and former Hawks Sniper Kevin Huerter.
Now let's take a look at what these two swingmen have done in their careers and what they can continue to get better at.
Malik Monk-
When the news broke that the Kings were signing Monk most fans were ecstatic. One being that Monk has already been one of the best free agent signings in recent memory and the fact that he fits a need instantly.
Since Monk entered the league back in 2017, he has gotten better each year. Last year was a breakout year for him in Los Angeles where he put up career numbers in every area of his game. Known as a sharpshooter, Monk shot 39 percent from deep last season on six attempts while averaging 14 points a game. At age 24, he still has much more in his game to offer.
He is more than a one trick pony from behind the arch. He has shown that he can use his crazy athleticism off the bounce like he did with De’Aaron Fox at Kentucky. He'll have to step up and prove himself on defense, just like almost everyone else on the Sacramento roster. But, for the money, he's a solid signing for a Kings team that needs his skill set moving forward.
Here is Monk’s scouting report provided by https://craftednba.com/players/malik-monk
SIMILAR PLAYERS TO MALIK MONK
Similarity Score | The difference between the percentile scores of this player and that of all other players in his position group (guards, wings, forwards, bigs). Converted to a 1-100 scale where 100 is most similar, and 1 is least similar.
Kevin Huerter-
Going into this off-season, it was paramount that the Kings added more size on the wing and they have certainly done that by trading for former hawks shooter Kevin Huerter.
Huerter offers solid size at 6-foot-7 which allows him to play multiple positions and be versatile on both ends of the court. Huerter isn’t necessarily great at one thing, but he still has upside and potential to be better than what he currently is just like Monk.
He is a solid defender, good shooter as he also shot 39 percent from deep, and at age 23 is becoming a more improved role player by the day.
Huerter is also a solid playmaker and has the ability to improve on making his teammates better with his three assists he averaged a game. Just like the addition of Monk, Huerter will provide much needed floor spacing for Fox and Sabonis to operate and knock down shots off the catch and be ready for any secondary option on the weak side of the floor.
Here in this video you can see where Huerter ranks offensively and defensively analytically in the entire league. 👇🏽
Conclusion-
All in all McNair and the front office has done a solid job so far by adding talent to the roster. It feels like another move or two still needs to be made to really solidify this roster, but we are off to a nice start.
If they can snag another defender or another low end starter in free agency or on the trade market, it would do wonders for this team. Providing coach Mike Brown more depth to work with this season is essential if this team wants to make a playoff push!