Sacramento Kings End-of-Season Report Card: Malik Monk

Let’s get into the good and the bad, starting with his numbers for the 2025 season. Monk averaged 17.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 2.4 turnovers per game with 43.9/32.5/86.5 shooting splits.

The Good

Let’s start with what went well for Malik this season, and what better place to start than the  offense. Monk has increased his scoring average over the last three years, and 17.2 points per game was good for fourth on the team (excluding De’Aaron Fox). 

Malik was especially good when getting to the rim, where he shot 63% this season, and being in attack mode was always a welcome sight for Sacramento. Monk also led the league in points per possession off screens with 1.68 (among players with 0.5 possessions per game). Not only is Malik leading in PPP off screens, but he’s also shooting a ridiculous 69% with a 94% effective field goal percentage. 

Last, but certainly not least, Malik was incredible on drives all season. Monk was fourth in the entire league in assist percentage off of drives among players with 10+ drives per game, while averaging fewer turnovers than Darius Garland, Trae Young, and Tyler Herro in front of him. One positive of trading De’Aaron Fox was getting to see Malik handle the ball more, which led to a ton of highlights. 

The Bad

As much as I’d love to just end the article with the good, there were definitely some rough parts of Malik Monk’s season. 

As always with Malik, defense was a problem. Monk has never been an elite defender, but sharing the court with De’Aaron Fox, who is a solid point of attack defender, definitely made things easier. 

This season, Malik spent a ton of time in the backcourt with Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, who are not the defenders that Fox is, and the results weren’t great. Monk was a part of Sacramento’s worst defensive lineup with over 100 minutes this season, along with LaVine, DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis, and Keegan Murray.

While it’s unfair to blame Malik for the team being awful defensively, he absolutely played a part in it. Below, Malik talks about Sacramento’s three-point defense, which was especially bad all season.

Unfortunately, Malik’s struggles weren’t confined to the defensive end. Monk also struggled from three-point range all season, shooting only 32.5%, well below league average. Monk was at his worst on “above the break” threes, where he had the most attempts, converting only 30.8% of his shots. Malik isn’t necessarily one of the best shooters in the NBA, but shooting 2.5% worse than his career average from three really hurt Sacramento’s offense this season. 

Malik did a ton well this season and Sacramento wouldn’t have had a prayer without him, but there are still parts of his game that bring down his grade a bit. Below you’ll see Monk’s report card and a final video that is a required watch for all Kings’ fans.

Grade: B