Kings guard Malik Monk is believed to have suffered a sprained MCL in his right knee and is undergoing further testing, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Those tests will provide a better idea of a recovery timeline for the guard.
For comparison’s sake, Monk’s teammate Trey Lyles was ruled out for at least two weeks with a sprained MCL earlier in March, while Heat guard Delon Wright missed about a month-and-a-half earlier this season with a similar diagnosis.
Monk suffered the injury after Mavericks guard Luka Doncic fell onto him after a drive. According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Charania, Monk was in the locker room in “decent spirits” but was definitely in pain and left the arena with a noticeable limp.
This is another blow to an injury-riddled Kings team also dealing with the losses of Lyles and Kevin Huerter, who was recently ruled out for the season due to shoulder surgery.
“It’s unfortunate,” teammate Harrison Barnes said, per The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson. “Obviously, still trying to figure out the severity of it, but that’s part of the business. I think last year we were extremely healthy and we didn’t have to worry about that. This year, we’ve been a little bit injury plagued.”
Monk has been one of the most productive guards off the bench in the league this season and is the betting odds favorite for Sixth Man of the Year. He has averaged career highs of 15.3 points and 5.1 assists per game this season while shooting 44.3% from the field and 35.0% from three.
Without him, Davion Mitchell and Kessler Edwards saw an increase in minutes. Sasha Vezenkov, who has been out since Feb. 9, is on the verge of returning, according to Slater and Charania, and could factor into the rotation. Chris Duarte is also potentially in line for more minutes.
“Hey, we’ve got to have the next man step up,” Kings coach Mike Brown said, “Nobody’s going to fill Malik’s shoes, so we just have to do it by committee.”
The Kings have now lost back-to-back games to slip into eighth place in the West and back into the play-in tournament picture. A win against Dallas on Friday would have kept them in sixth in the standings, but instead they’re two games behind the Mavericks and are soon scheduled to play the likes of the Clippers, Knicks, Celtics and Thunder.
Sad to see the Kings year is going down the drain fast with 2 big injuries just like that.
Weyman Gabriel, Stanley Johnson, Noel, Glenn Robinson, Jarrett Culver, Terrance Davis, Skal Lab would be good for them
Hopefully Mitchell will step and prove his value.
Losing Monk is a nail in the coffin but so was losing to Portland, Detroit, Charlotte, a depleted Miami team, etc. Constantly playing down to the competition is what screwed us this year.