{"id":92441,"date":"2024-08-26T08:23:28","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T12:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=92441"},"modified":"2024-08-31T02:17:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T06:17:30","slug":"kings-domantas-sabonis-dissects-malik-monk-demar-derozan-moves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/26\/kings-domantas-sabonis-dissects-malik-monk-demar-derozan-moves\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings Fulcrum Dissects Malik Monk, DeMar DeRozan Moves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While hosting his first basketball camp in Sacramento, Sacramento Kings center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sabondo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Domantas Sabonis<\/a> was all smiles as reporters asked him about his team\u2019s offseason.<\/p>\n<p>And why wouldn\u2019t he be? The Kings acquired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/derozde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeMar DeRozan<\/a>, a six-time All-Star, in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/06\/bulls-star-lands-with-sacramento-kings-through-sign-and-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a sign-and-trade<\/a>. They re-signed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/monkma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malik Monk<\/a>, who turned down heftier offers <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/21\/nba-free-agency-kings-bring-back-beloved-backcourt-scorer\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">to stay with the franchise<\/a>. After finishing ninth in the Western Conference standings last season, Sacramento now seems poised to return to the playoffs.<\/p>\n<h2>Kings Fulcrum Dissects Malik Monk, DeMar DeRozan Moves<\/h2>\n<p>Asked his thoughts on the Kings\u2019 ability to swing the DeRozan deal, Sabonis says he was \u201cexcited\u2026 and happy he\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt that point, nothing was falling through, so (I was) getting a bit frustrated,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Catching up with Domantas Sabonis on the Kings keeping Malik Monk, working out in LA last week with their new addition in DeMar DeRozan, what DeRozan provides, players camp starting Monday in San Diego &amp; hosting his first camp in Sacramento. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eS0oMy9ITS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/eS0oMy9ITS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SeanCunningham\/status\/1827823184269418926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Then came <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/29\/nba-insiders-reveal-true-thoughts-demar-derozan-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the real question<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sabonis has made a name for himself as one of the best DHO (dribble handoff) operators in the league. Typically, this action leads to players launching from the perimeter or dashing into the paint. Yet, DeRozan\u2019s specialty is sizing players up and scoring in the midrange.<\/p>\n<p>How then does DeRozan fit the offense?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be good for us,\u201d Sabonis answers. \u201cIt\u2019s going to make us think differently on the court, move differently, (and) really read each other. Because we\u2019re used to playing one style, but he does something at a Hall of Fame level that we\u2019re going to have to play around\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt\u2019s going to make it so much harder for teams to guard us\u2026 we can basically score from (everywhere).\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201c\u2026He\u2019s a very smart player (who has) been in the league forever, (and) has done so much,\u201d the eight-year veteran adds. \u201cI\u2019m excited to learn from him and pick his brain and I hope everyone else is\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Malik Monk\u2019s Role<\/h3>\n<p>As for Monk\u2019s decision to stay with the Kings, Sabonis says he \u201cwas actually very surprised (he stayed)\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI was talking to him a lot during the year and I thought we really lost him, but I\u2019m happy he stayed. I think it\u2019s the best decision for him and for us.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026I\u2019m happy he\u2019s here. He\u2019s one of the most important players on our team. Having him on and off the court with us has helped us a lot these last two years.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Now considered one of the best bench players in the NBA after a pair of top-five Sixth Man of the Year finishes, Monk is eyeing a starting role. How that would look is unclear. Though he\u2019s made 37.5 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s over the past two seasons, he\u2019s more comfortable scoring off-the-dribble. With DeRozan, Sabonis, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/foxde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a> starting and needing the ball in their hands as well, that might be a dicey situation.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, there\u2019s no doubt that Monk has made the Kings a better team.<\/p>\n<p>On the court, his scoring instincts and playmaking growth has made their offense more dynamic. The firepower he provides off the bench helps them survive the minutes without a star scorer on it. Off the court, Monk uplifts the team with his positivity. It doesn\u2019t hurt that he\u2019s genuinely friends with Fox, either. In a long and grueling season, he\u2019s the type of person who can help them get through rough patches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While hosting his first basketball camp in Sacramento, Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis was all smiles as reporters asked him about his team\u2019s offseason. And why wouldn\u2019t he be? The Kings acquired DeMar DeRozan, a six-time All-Star, in a sign-and-trade. They re-signed Malik Monk, who turned down heftier offers to stay with the franchise. After [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":92460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,3,29],"tags":[350,1102,700,297,4557,1382],"class_list":["post-92441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-kings","tag-demar-derozan","tag-domantas-sabonis","tag-malik-monk","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-offseason","tag-nba-trade"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}