Monk or Eris? The post Kings excited to start shooting guard competition appeared first on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO — The biggest question looming for the Kings entering training camp Tuesday is who will be their starting two-guard 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 welcome.
For the past two seasons, that player has been Kevin Huerter. That changed after he suffered a season-ending injury at the end of last season.
Insert Keon Ellis.
From an undrafted rookie to the G League and from a two-way player to a starter in the NBA play-in tournament, Ellis was the epitome of someone who makes the most of his opportunities and keeps going. Ellis was originally supposed to be just a “replacement”, but his success in the lineup forced Brown to make a difficult decision.
Would you start Ellis, a player who has proven in a relatively small sample size that he can not only be in the NBA, but can impact wins for a team aiming for the playoffs? Needless to say, the team Ellis has long sought to improve his defense, which is where he excels the most.
Or does Malik Monk’s willingness to take a pay cut to remain in Sacramento this summer strengthen his belief in the team’s potential?
Hürtel is still rehabilitating his shoulder injury and will be re-tested in mid-October. But if he returns, whenever that may be, will he have the option of taking the position back?
Despite facing a difficult decision, Brown is grateful for the options he has and is looking forward to seeing how the competition goes in October.
“The first thing I want to say is this: I want our players to want to be the best, not just the starter,” Brown said at the Kings’ media day on Monday. “I want everyone in the team to have a commitment to do their best and everyone wants to be at the highest level in the group. But obviously not everyone can start. So I want Malik to start. I know his teammates are excited that he’s that type of competitor, but I think Malik is thinking about the team. I also know that I won’t do anything to disappoint my teammates, especially my best friends on the team.
“He doesn’t want to tear them down, and just as importantly, he doesn’t want to tear the city of Sacramento down. So while we’re trying to get better as a group, he continues to compete,” I know he’ll embrace whatever role we give him and push everyone in front of him, next to him and behind him.”
If you ask Monk, as we did, he will answer in true Malik Monk fashion.
One reporter suggested there was a bit of a traffic jam at the two guards’ location, but Monk cut him off by asking, “Where?”
He then corrected himself and said he did not identify as a shooting guard, but simply as a “security guard.”
classic monk.
The 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year runner-up played the best basketball of his seven-year pro career in his first two seasons in Sacramento. He accomplished that in 149 games, all off the bench. It’s a role he thrived on and made his own with unparalleled panache, energy and effectiveness.
But at some point everyone will want to start. Especially someone as competitive as Monk. That said, as Brown mentioned, Monk is a team player and would probably be fine in whatever role the Kings ask him to play.
The same applies to Ellis. Ellis said Sacramento’s coaching staff doesn’t have a good idea of where he stands in the starting job.
“I haven’t heard anything to be honest, but I’m open to anything,” Ellis said Monday. “Whatever it is to help the team win and look good, I’m definitely going to do that. Whether it’s starting, coming off the bench, whatever, I’m ready.”
Star point guard De’Aaron Fox, a man who has no problem with his job, is also excited to see how the competition unfolds.
“I think competition is always great for a team,” Fox said. “When you go into a game, you have players competing for position. And obviously, no one is trying to hurt each other, but they can bring out the best in each other. What brings out the best in a team is the next It’s time.’ You’re actually jockeying for position.
“So I think it’s going to be a good fight.”
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