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Mock Trade Sends Kings' Malik Monk to Rockets for $73 Million Veteran Duo

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Nathaniel Holloway | Last updated Oct 2, 2025 2:11 PM ET

The Sacramento Kings will enter the 2025-26 season looking to snap their playoff drought as they have missed the postseason in each of the last two seasons and they have made the playoffs just once since the start of the 2006-07 season.

Of course, many around the NBA expected the Kings to begin a rebuild this offseason after trading De’Aaron Fox at last season’s trade deadline, but that was not the case.

Instead, Sacramento elected to keep their core of Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine together and they also made some notable additions to their roster.

The Kings started their offseason by selecting Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud in the 2025 draft and they then landed Dennis Schroder in free agency via a sign-and-trade with the Detroit Pistons to fill their void at the starting point guard position.

By making these moves, the Kings are looking to compete for a playoff spot in the loaded Western Conference this season, though they could make more moves ahead of the trade deadline.

Kings Could Look to Move Malik Monk

If that ends up being the case, one player the Kings could look to trade is Malik Monk after they were unable to find a suitor for him this offseason.

Monk is coming off arguably the best season of his career and while Sacramento tried to move him this offseason, they were unsuccessful in doing so.

That could change ahead of the trade deadline as some teams could show interest in the veteran guard and one of those teams could be the Houston Rockets.

Mock Trade Lands Kings 2 Veterans, Sends Malik Monk to Rockets

In a potential trade, the Kings could send Monk and draft capital to the Rockets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela.

While Sacramento would be moving on from a great scoring guard in Monk, swapping him for Finney-Smith and Capela would fill two noticeable holes in their roster.

For Finney-Smith, he is a great 3-and-D wing, which is something the Kings are in desperate need of.

Last season, the 32-year-old forward averaged 8.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 44.2% from the field and 39.8% from three with both the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers.

Capela would also fill a void in the Kings’ roster as he would give them a veteran backup center behind Sabonis.

Last season, the 31-year-old center averaged 8.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.

For the Kings, making this trade would give them two more key players on their roster who could help them end their playoff drought this season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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