Kings' Monk, Sabonis Shootaround Absences Are Raising Questions

From “seeking clarity” to allegedly having some say in the firing of former head coach Mike Brown, Domantas Sabonis and the Sacramento Kings have had an odd last few years together. Along with Sabonis, Malik Monk is in a weird position after being the subject of trade rumors for the last two seasons and seeing his minutes reduced despite his solid production. What do both of them have in common right now? They’re both suspiciously missing from the last two preseason games, and it’s beginning to feel like there may be something going on behind the scenes. 

A Big Absence

Barring a surprise change, it seems that Sabonis will be missing another preseason matchup after playing just ten minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 5th. That’s even more of a topic of conversation after the news that both Dylan Cardwell and Maxime Raynaud will be out for a minimum of two weeks. Are the Kings just being cautious with Sabonis in case he’s their only healthy center going into the regular season, or is there something else going on?

It’s no secret that GM Scott Perry would be happy to move on from Sabonis at his earliest convenience, but the market hasn’t provided the kind of offers he’s looking for so far. The Kings are adamant they want positive value for their big man, who at his best is an offensive elevator and the best rebounder in the NBA. The issue isn’t so much what Sabonis can and can’t do, it’s his massive salary that takes up over 27% of the cap.

Sure, teams likely would be happy to pay him $45+ million per year if he were a rim protector or could shoot consistently, but even the player he is would have value on a smaller contract. There are some teams around the league that have shown interest, but it’s unclear if Sacramento will ultimately end up keeping him for at least this season to help Darius Acuff Jr. get acclimated to creating at the NBA level. He’s still valuable to the Kings right now, and with the flexibility coming this summer after Zach LaVine’s deal expires, it’s fair to wonder what is going on.

Sabonis’ absence could have an easy explanation, but these are valuable minutes for him and Acuff Jr. to play together, and I’m not sure how great it is for Darius’ development to keep him out if you’re solely worried about Domas getting injured. The caveat to that would be if a trade is already in progress, but you really never know what the Kings are thinking at any given moment. As of now, I expect that Sabonis will be back in the lineup at least by the start of the regular season, but it is something to monitor in the next few weeks.

The King Of Kings

You may not have heard this before, but Malik actually means “King” in Arabic, and that feels fitting given what Monk has meant to this franchise since he arrived. Sacramento has had consistent ball-handling, scoring, shooting, and energy off the bench since Monk was signed as a free agent, and it feels like the Kings could use some of that right now. With Ben Simmons in the starting lineup, there are little to no options for playmakers off the bench, and Monk should be first in line to take up that role. 

It was reported that he’s been having some ankle soreness, but it looks like he’s been moving around well when seen on the court, and he’s clearly engaged with his teammates in the last few shootarounds. He’s also mentioned being asked to take on more of a leadership role with the young Kings, and that only adds to the mystery of his availability. He even participated in shootaround (while dressed) in the Kings’ matchup with the Golden State Warriors on October 10th, though he was never set to play.

Monk’s shooting and secondary playmaking would be really fun to see next to Acuff Jr. this preseason, and after being the odd man out for much of last season, fans probably would like to see Monk play basketball again. Could the Kings have lower expectations for a Monk trade package and are currently canvassing the league for trades, or is he really injured? It would be great to take the Kings’ word at face value, but there’s too much history of weird communication to not question things with this team.

"... Stuff is starting to seep out about why some of these players might not be playing. I'm not gonna go on the record and throw guys under the bus if I don't have all of it tied up with a nice bow on it, but there are already murmurs. And these are things that happen in Sacramento."

Putting On The Tin Foil Hat

The Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Miami Heat are all playing their full assortment of players in the preseason, though they have much more to lose if one of their starters goes down. Even Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton are playing after coming off Achilles tears. Add in James Ham’s comment about certain players choosing to not participate in preseason, and you give fans even more reason to wonder what is going on behind the scenes. As always, this could be nothing, but it would be nice for the Kings to operate as a normal franchise, even in inconsequential times like the preseason.

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