Like the rest of us, Kings star point guard De'Aaron Fox has no idea what's going to happen when Malik Monk becomes an NBA free agent in just over a week.
But one thing remains: Fox's excitement for the friends he's had the chance to call his NBA teammates over the past two seasons.
“Yeah, absolutely. I've never been a free agent before and this will technically be his second free agent,” Fox said on the third day of basketball camp in Rocklin, Calif. (Courtesy of Sactown Sports 1140). “Looking at the way he was as a player when he signed, it's hard to say he's changed a lot from how he was before. He's been able to play his game better.”
“But I'm definitely happy for him given the situation he's in and obviously multiple teams trying to pursue him. Obviously, we want him to stay, but at the end of the day, he's got to do what's best for himself.”
Monk will make $9.9 million during the 2023-24 season and will likely make even more on the open market, where he will be one of the top free agents.
Sacramento is limited in what it can offer Monk, with a maximum starting salary of $17.4 million but a four-year, $77.9 million maximum contract if extended without a maximum raise.
But a team with salary-cap space could offer the 26-year-old Monk a similar deal term worth around $100 million, which would likely be the largest salary Monk has had in his up-and-down NBA career.
Still, Fox prefers to keep the business side of sports away from their friendship, despite a close relationship with Monk that dates back to their days at Kentucky.
“No, I don't know,” Fox said when asked if he had any ideas about how things might play out. “I don't really ask him that much. It's funny, I saw him on Monday and I don't really know. We're friends first and that side of it is what it is. I don't really ask him that much about it. I ask him where he went on vacation, where Fresh is, how's his mom doing, how's his brother doing, how's his nephew doing, stuff like that.”
“I haven't asked him anything about free agency.”
While there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Monk's future, it is clear that he is coming off the best season of his career with the Kings.
While some may have only just gotten behind on the Malik Show, Fox was able to take a flashback from their days dominating the court as Wildcats to their time playing together professionally in Sacramento six years later.
It took time and the right opportunity for Monk to make it in the league, but Fox knows the best is yet to come for his best friend.
“It's definitely Malik. Malik is Malik. Same. [former Kentucky coach John Calipari] With him was the road. [Kings coach] microphone [Brown] “Mike and Cal were with him and gave him freedom,” Fox said. “Obviously, Malik's got a big personality. Mike and Cal's approach to coaching Malik was very similar, and I think that's a big reason why he's had the success.”
“There's a lot of talented players in the NBA. A lot of players who can play. But it comes down to a role. What's your role? Do you feel it's the role that the team needs? They say there are players who aren't in the NBA because they don't fit the role. There may be players in Europe who are better than the NBA players, but they couldn't fill the role that the team needed. We gave Malik a bigger role, and he was able to showcase more than he could in his previous situation.”
“A lot of people who watched Malik in college knew he had the ability to put the ball in the basket, but didn't know he could playmake. When he got into the league, he developed that and was able to showcase it here. His role has grown and I think he's been able to showcase that more than he was able to before.”
Like the rest of the NBA, Fox will have to wait and see when it comes to Monk and his future.
