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Monk or Ellis? Kings excited for starting shooting guard competition originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – The biggest question looming over the Kings as they enter training camp Tuesday is who will be the starting two guard for the 2024-25 NBA season.
If Kings coach Mike Brown and the rest of the team made one thing clear, it’s that the competition is a welcome sight.
Kevin Huerter has been the guy over the past two seasons. That changed at the end of last year only after he sustained a season-ending injury. Insert Keon Ellis.
From undrafted to the G League to a two-way player to a starter in the NBA Play-In Tournament – Ellis was the epitome of making the most of an opportunity and running with it. When he originally was supposed to just be a “fill-in,” his impact and success in the lineup now present Brown with a difficult decision.
Do you start Ellis, a player who – in a relatively small sample size – has proven he not only belongs in the NBA but can impact winning on a team with playoff aspirations? Not to mention a team that long has aimed at improving defensively – where Ellis excels most.
Or do you look at Malik Monk, the player who willingly took a pay cut this summer to remain in Sacramento and build upon his belief in the team’s potential?
Huerter’s still rehabbing his shoulder injury, and will be re-evaluated in mid-October. But once he’s back, whenever that might be, is he an option to reclaim his position?
For Brown, despite it being a tough decision, he’s grateful for the amount of options he has and looking forward to how the competition plays out.
“The first thing I will say is this: I want guys on my team to not only want to start, but want to be the best,” Brown said Monday at Media Day. “You want everybody on your team to want to have a commitment to being their best, and you want everybody to want to be at their highest level in a group. But obviously not everybody can start. So I’m excited that Malik wants to start. I know his teammates are excited that he’s that type of competitor, but I also know that Malik is about the team, and he wouldn’t do anything to disappoint his teammates, especially his best friend on the team.
“He doesn’t want to bring them down, and just as importantly, he doesn’t want to bring down the city of Sacramento. So I know he’ll embrace whatever role we throw at him while continuing to compete and push whoever is in front of him or to the side of him or behind him, while we’re trying to get better as a group.”
When you ask Monk – and we did – he responds in true Malik Monk fashion.
As one reporter suggested there was a bit of a log jam at the two-guard spot, Monk cut him off: “Where?”
He then made a correction, stating he isn’t a shooting guard and rather just identifies as a “guard.”
Classic Monk.
The 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year runner-up displayed the best basketball of his professional career during his two seasons with Sacramento. He did that in 149 games – all off the bench. It’s a role he has thrived in and made his own with an unmatchable amount of swagger, energy and effectiveness.
But at some point, everyone wants to start. Especially those as competitive as Monk. With that being said, however, as Brown mentioned, Monk is a team player and surely will be OK with whatever role the team needs him to play.
The same goes for Ellis, who said the coaching staff hasn’t looped him in on where it might stand with the starting job.
“I haven’t heard anything, honestly, but I’m open to anything,” Ellis said Monday. “Whatever it is to have the team win and look good, I’m definitely down to do so. Whether it be starting or off the bench, whatever, I’m ready for it.”
The guy whose job isn’t in question, star point guard De’Aaron Fox, also is excited to see how the competition plays out.
“I think competition is always great for a team,” Fox said. “You go into it and you have guys that are fighting for a spot. And obviously no one’s out there going to be trying to hurt each other, but you get the best out of each other. You get the best out of a team when you’re actually fighting for a position.
“So I think it’ll be a good battle.”