Malik Monk Injury Update Bad News for Playoff Hopeful Kings

It’s hard to deny the Kings turned things around at the right time. In the middle of a free fall and with limited options, the team rallied behind their best players, put up strong showings, and won enough to cement a spot in the upcoming play-in games.

(Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images)

Though no one knows how those contests will turn out, there’s no doubt the Kings have some fight left in them. They might not be built to go on a run, but it’s easy to see a world where they make it to the second round and create some havoc in the postseason.

However, while the team has quite a bit to celebrate right now, they also received some bad news that might lessen their already slim chances of making noise in the postseason. Malik Monk will be out for at least two weeks, which could well be the rest of the season.

A Hurt Calf

Monk, who has had a great year with the Kings this season, went down with a calf injury during the first quarter in their last game versus the Pistons.

Though the team hoped the damage would be minimal, further testing showed it was quite serious.

Reports state the 27 year old suffered a left calf strain that looks to sideline him for the next two weeks

After that point, he’ll be re-evaluated. He already missed Sacramento’s last contest against Denver with soreness, and will likely miss much more important games going forward.

The new injury timeline shows Monk will sit out for the next three games of the regular season, as well as the early part of the postseason. That means the play-in game.

Losing Monk in such a critical contest is a huge blow for the Kings

They are at their best when everyone fills a role. Monk does that each and every night. Without him, their bench and rotation both need to step up in new ways.

A Core Piece

Monk might not have the same reputation as some of Sacramento’s other big players like Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan, but he’s a valuable role piece who’s done a lot of work this season.

The guard is averaging 17.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists this season on 43.9 percent shooting

He also sees the floor well, has a high basketball IQ, and plays hard defense. That spread shows how well he acts as a glue player for the rest of the team.

He’s also a great three shooter and, more importantly, averages 31.6 minutes a night

That much time shows how critical he is to the Kings rotation. Losing those minutes is a big problem, especially against some of the better teams in the West.

The team knows that, as does interim head coach Doug Christie. It’s not just about what he does on the court, it’s what he does off it as well.

“It’s super unfortunate because we depend on him a lot,” said the head coach in an interview

“In many ways, he is the leader of the team, definitely on the emotional side. A lot of the energy, the things that go on in the locker room, practice. He’s the head of the snake in many ways.

He’ll still be around, obviously, but two weeks is two weeks and we need him.”

Making a Change

Without Monk, the Kings aren’t quite the same team. They can still win games, but are much more reliant on their stars putting up huge numbers than they are on everyone working together to get the ball into the basket.

It’s not a bad formula, but a much more fragile one

That fragility is especially concerning for the play-in game because it’s hard to know which Kings team will show up.

If the one that plays hard and supports its stars comes out, they could beat almost any potential opponent.

If the one that relies on hero ball and huge plays comes to the court, it could get ugly fast.

Losing Monk doesn’t mean the Kings are done, but it makes things much, much harder for the team

He brings a lot of energy to the table. Losing that might be a much bigger deal that they want to admit, and it’s something that could prematurely end their season before making it to a 7-game series.

To make up for the loss, Sacramento signed guard Terence Davis from the G League

He averaged 14.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1 steal for the Wisconsin Herd. While he might not be the same player Monk is, he still can add some value to the roster.

Davis averaged 8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists during his games in the NBA.

That experience might help bridge the gap and give the Kings a push into the postseason while they wait for Monk to come back. If it does, it would be a huge help.