Malik Monk Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Malik Monk Declares For 2017 NBA Draft

April 4th, 2017 at 8:26am CST by Luke Adams

A day after his Kentucky teammate De’Aaron Fox declared for the 2017 NBA draft, Malik Monk has entered his name as well, the school announced in a press release. Monk, who wrote a piece for The Players’ Tribune saying goodbye to Kentucky, will sign with an agent, forgoing his remaining years of NCAA eligibility.

“Malik is a special talent,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said of his departing guard. “With Malik you’re talking about a superior athlete with skills and an ability to score that make him truly unique. What I love about Malik is that, as the season went on, he learned how to help our team win by doing more than just score. He became an efficient player who I believe will make an immediate impact at the next level.”

A virtual lock to be a lottery pick in June, Monk currently ranks sixth on Jonathan Givony’s big board at DraftExpress.com, and seventh on Chad Ford’s ESPN list. In his newest mock draft, published earlier this morning, Ford has Monk coming off the board at No. 4 to the Magic, noting that the 19-year-old’s three-point shooting would be especially attractive to Orlando.

In his first and only college season, Monk averaged an impressive 19.8 PPG, with a shooting line of .450/.397/.822.

And-Ones: Embiid, Noel, Monk, Hayward

March 25th, 2017 at 10:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers expect Joel Embiid, who underwent surgery on his left knee on Friday, to resume basketball activities this summer, Jessica Camerato of Comcast Sportsnet relays.

“Joel, his representatives and our medical staff conducted extensive research based on prioritizing the best possible treatment and recovery outcome for Joel’s knee injury resulting in today’s procedure by Dr. ElAttrache,” president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said. “We are very pleased with his post-surgical assessment and forecast for a healthy return to basketball activity.”

This was Embiid’s third surgery of his young career. He underwent two separate procedures on his foot, which forced him to miss his first two seasons in the league. He was only able to play 31 games this season before the Sixers shut him down for the year with the knee ailment.

Here’s more from around the league.

Coach Rick Carlisle believes Nerlens Noel deserves to be a starter in the league, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News passes along. “That’s why we traded for him,” Carlisle said. He added that the Mavericks will eventually work with Noel on expanding his range, though “it’s not a big priority for now.”
Steve Serby of the New York Post examines Kentucky’s backcourt and believes both Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox would be good fits for the Knicks. Both players are expected to be top-10 picks and New York currently owns the No. 5 spot in our Reverse Standings.
Gordon Hayward left tonight’s game against the Clippers with a knee injury, but the X-rays came back negative, Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News reports. Coach Quin Snyder said that the team’s All-Star will be “fine.” The Jazz currently own the fourth seed in the Western Conference, though Los Angeles sits just 0.5 games back of that spot.

Knicks Rumors: Carmelo, Rose, Draft Targets

March 21st, 2017 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The triangle offense continues to be a source of tension in New York, with sources suggesting to Ian Begley of ESPN.com that the Knicks’ return to the triangle is one reason some veteran players have started to lose faith in head coach Jeff Hornacek recently. Despite Hornacek’s recent insistence that the triangle could hold some appeal to free agents, there’s concern in some corners of the organization that it could do the opposite, driving free agents away from the Knicks, Begley reports.

As Begley outlines, some Knicks players feel that the triangle is too easy for opposing teams to defend, with opposing players suggesting that they can predict where players will be on the court. Pacers point guard Jeff Teague alluded to this recently, telling Marc Berman of The New York Post that a player like Derrick Rose is easier to contain when he’s playing in the triangle.

According to Begley, there’s also some concern that if Knicks president Phil Jackson leaves the team in two or three years, there would be no guarantee that the team’s new president would insist on the same system. That could complicate the development of young players like Kristaps Porzingis and Willy Hernangomez, who would then have to learn a new offense after getting accustomed to the triangle.

Begley has several more Knicks-related items of interest to pass along, so let’s round up some of the highlights…

After shopping Carmelo Anthony a little earlier this year, the Knicks “remain committed” to moving him this summer, per Begley. Anthony will still control his future, so he’d have to waive his no-trade clause to accommodate a deal. However, sources tell Begley that some members of the Clippers organization expressed confidence last month that they could acquire Carmelo in the offseason.
Although the Knicks appeared at the trade deadline to be souring on the idea of keeping Derrick Rose long-term, the club hasn’t ruled out the possibility of re-signing him, says Begley. Some members of the organization view Jrue Holiday and Jeff Teague as potential free agent targets as well, as New York searches for an answer at point guard.
The Knicks will almost certainly have a top-10 pick in this year’s draft, and according to Begley, they’ve been eyeing players such as French guard Frank Ntilikina and Kentucky sharpshooter Malik Monk.
Team owner James Dolan publicly stated earlier in the year that he intends to exercise the Knicks’ half of the mutual option on Phil Jackson‘s contract this summer. Still, sources tell Begley that some people around Dolan have been urging him to consider making a change.

And-Ones: Christmas, Calderon, Fultz, Parker, Dolan

February 10th, 2017 at 8:35pm CST by Milo Taibi

A right Achilles tendon rupture has brought an end to Dionte Christmas‘ season, Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com reports. It’s an unfortunate development for the 30-year-old, as Christmas had averaged 14.9 points with 3.2 assists in 31 games with the Delaware 87ers. Delaware’s GM, Brandon Williams, lauded Christmas’ efforts in a team statement:

“[Christmas] has been a consummate professional, positive influence on the development of our young roster, and vital to our energy and drive. We will certainly miss his leadership on the court, but are inspired by his confidence as he attacks the next steps on the road to recovery.”

Draft Notes: Fultz, Ball, Smith, Jackson, Monk

January 12th, 2017 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2017 NBA draft is still more than five months away, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to start looking ahead to see which players might come off the board first. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders did just that today, publishing his first mock draft of the year. It’s a bare-bones edition of the 2017 mock, since there’s still plenty of time for players to improve their draft stock, and for teams to move up or down in the draft lottery standings. Nonetheless, Kyler’s first mock has Markelle Fultz coming off the board at No. 1, with Dennis Smith Jr. and Lonzo Ball right behind him.

Here are a few more draft-related items to pass along:

Although Fultz went first in Kyler’s mock draft, ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider link) suggests that the field for that top pick is “wide open.” According to Ford, he has heard from executives and scouts that seven different prospects hold the No. 1 spot on at least one NBA team’s draft board. Ford and ESPN’s Kevin Pelton have Fultz and Ball first and second on their respective boards, in some order, with Smith, Josh Jackson, Malik Monk, and Jayson Tatum also earning top-five consideration.
Fultz, Ball, Smith, and top prospect De’Aaron Fox are all point guards, creating a deep and talented draft class at that position. ESPN’s Jeff Goodman spoke to 15 NBA executives about the group, and passed along some of the more interesting comments. “It’s not an easy decision,” one NBA general manager said of the top four point guards. “They could all go in the top 10. Whoever gets any of them has a chance to have a guy you can build around.”
Bobby Marks of The Vertical examines how the new Collective Bargaining Agreement will impact first-round picks — Marks focuses on both future first-rounders and players selected in the top 30 in recent years.
Be sure to check out our Reverse Standings feature to see how the 2017 draft class currently looks.

And-Ones: I. Austin, Sims, B. Paul, 2017 Draft

December 13th, 2016 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Baylor standout Isaiah Austin was recently cleared to play basketball again, after having his NBA hopes initially derailed when he was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, a disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue. Still, although Austin is free to sign anywhere, executives are generally taking a “relaxed approach” to his planned comeback, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Austin was viewed as a borderline first-round prospect back in 2014, and some executives around the NBA are approaching his reported medical clearance with caution.

“What reversed the decision?” one NBA general manager said to Howard-Cooper. “How did it come to be that now he can play? We don’t even know how. Yeah, that’s what I’d be curious about. I’m not saying [Austin found a single doctor willing to clear him], but I’ve seen this before. You can find someone to tell you that you can play. Somebody will.”

As Howard-Cooper details, another GM suggested that teams wouldn’t rush to look into Austin’s situation, but added that those teams may be intrigued: “I’ve never heard anybody (in the NBA) talk about any skepticism on that because I don’t think he’s on people’s radar like that. I don’t think there’s a buzz like, ‘Whoa, now he’s been declared healthy. Is he really healthy?’ I don’t think people are looking at it that way. I think people are more ‘OK, that’s interesting.’ I can see maybe someone trying to do a feel-good story, liking a little bump from a PR standpoint. Maybe someone does a short-term contract with him and brings him in.”

As we wait to see Austin can land a basketball contract, perhaps in the D-League or elsewhere, let’s check in on a few other odds and ends…

The NBA D-League has accepted a buyout of Henry Sims‘ contract, as well as Quincy Douby‘s deal, reports Adam Johnson of D-League Digest (Twitter links). It’s not yet clear what the next step is for either former NBA player, but they may end up heading overseas.
One player heading overseas is swingman Brandon Paul, who was in camp with the Sixers this fall. As Emiliano Carchia of Sportando writes, Turkish club Anadolu Efes Istanbul has agreed to a deal with Paul to replace Bryce Cotton on its roster.
In a piece for Basketball Insiders, Michael Scotto takes an early look at next year’s potential draft class, exploring whether we might see three Kentucky freshman come of the board as 2017 lottery picks. As Scotto outlines, Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox, and Edrice Adebayo could become the Wildcats’ third trio since 2010 to achieve that feat.