Monk or Ellis? Kings excited to start shooting guard competition originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – The biggest question looming over the Kings as they enter training camp on Tuesday is who will be the starting two guards for the 2024-25 NBA season.
If Kings coach Mike Brown and the rest of the team have made one thing clear, it’s that the competition is a welcome sight.
Kevin Huerter has been the guy for the past two seasons. That changed at the end of last year only after he suffered a season-ending injury. Enter Keon Ellis.
From undrafted to the G-League to a two-way player to a starter in the NBA Play-In Tournament – Ellis was the epitome of taking an opportunity and running with it. When he was originally thought to be just a “filler”, his impact and success in the lineup now presents Brown with a difficult decision.
Do you start Ellis, a player who – in a relatively small sample size – has proven that he not only belongs in the NBA but can affect winning on a team with playoff aspirations? Not to mention a team that has long aimed to improve defensively – where Ellis excels the most.
Or do you look at Malik Monk, the player who willingly took a pay cut this summer to stay in Sacramento and build on his belief in the team’s potential?
Huerter is still rehabilitating his shoulder injury, and will be reevaluated in mid-October. But once he returns, whenever that might be, is there an option for him to reclaim his position?
For Brown, despite it being a difficult decision, he is grateful for the amount of options he has and is looking forward to how the competition plays out.
“The first thing I’m going to say is this: I want guys on my team to not only want to start, but want to be the best,” Brown said Monday at Media Day. “You want everyone on your team to want to have a commitment to be their best, and you want everyone to want to be at their highest level in a group. But obviously not everyone can start. So I’m glad Malik wants to start. I know that his teammates are excited that he is that type of competitor, but I also know that Malik is all about the team, and he wouldn’t do anything to disappoint his teammates, especially his best friend on the team.
“He doesn’t want to bring them down, and just as importantly, he doesn’t want to bring down the city of Sacramento. So I know he’s going to accept whatever role we throw at him while continuing to compete and push whoever is in front of him or next to him or behind him as we try to get better as a group.”
When you ask Monk – and we did – he answers in true Malik Monk fashion.
As one reporter suggested there was some log jam at the two-guard spot, Monk cut him off: “Where?”
He then made a correction, stating that he is not a shooting ranger and rather only identifies as a “ranger.”
Classic Monk.
The 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year runner-up has shown the best basketball of his professional career during his two seasons with Sacramento. He did so in 149 games – all off the bench. It’s a role he’s thrived in and made his own with an unmatched amount of swagger, energy and efficiency.
But at some point, everyone wants to start. Especially those as competitive as Monk. That said, though, as Brown mentioned, Monk is a team player and will certainly be fine with whatever role the team needs him to play.
The same goes for Ellis, who said the coaching staff didn’t place him where it could stand with the starting job.
“I haven’t heard anything, honestly, but I’m open to anything,” Ellis said Monday. “Whatever it is to have the team win and look good, I definitely want to do that. Whether it’s starting or off the bench, whatever, I’m ready for it.”
The guy whose job isn’t in question, star guard De’Aaron Fox, is also excited to see how the competition plays out.
“I think competition is always great for a team,” Fox said. “You go into it and you’ve got guys fighting for a spot. And obviously nobody out there is going to try to hurt each other, but you get the best out of each other. You get the best out of a team when you’re actually fighting for a position.
“So I think it will be a good fight.”
