Malik Monk has earned Hornets’ trust. Will that translate to new contract in Charlotte?
I get the skepticism from some Charlotte Hornets fans about Malik Monk. To use his term, he “swerved” several times over three seasons.
But I have an intuition this will still work out: That he’ll be a productive player this season and the Hornets will re-sign him.
Testing positive for COVID-19 set him back, even if he didn’t show symptoms. It cost him a week of training camp and the first preseason game. Coach James Borrego worked him into the final preseason game Saturday, and he produced 11 points in 10 minutes.
Is he “right” heading into the season opener Wednesday in Cleveland? No. I’m not sure he’ll be in the rotation initially, particularly if Gordon Hayward can play with his broken finger. However, Monk is too talented, too athletic, for Borrego not to find ways to utilize him over time.
“I believe in him. I trust him,” Borrego said before Saturday’s 120-117 preseason loss to the Orlando Magic. “We’ve got to get him back to 100% form.”
Difficult maturation
Monk is frank now in saying he wasn’t mature enough to be an NBA player when he entered the 2017 draft. The Hornets selected him 11th, and it took him three seasons to make a single start. Right after that start — in late February in Indianapolis — Monk was suspended indefinitely under the NBA’s anti-drug policy.
Multiple people within the Hornets organization have told me how different Monk seems since being reinstated: more accountable and more flexible. As if he came to realize how fragile his NBA future might be if he doesn’t change impressions before reaching free agency after this season.
He was quick to take responsibility in his first interview following the suspension.
“I did it. I took my consequences for it,” Monk said in September of the suspension, which cost him eight games and roughly $200,000 in salary. “I think I’m making up for it right now.”
Monk says he worked exceptionally hard over the summer to be ready. He takes comfort in that now, feeling it mitigates the time he lost when he quarantined for 10 days under NBA COVID protocols.
“Shape-wise, I’m good,” Monk said postgame Saturday. “The wind is perfectly fine, and my legs are back under me. I’m feeling perfect now.”
Deep roster
How much Monk plays isn’t entirely about his readiness. The Hornets are dramatically deeper than last season, particularly at the perimeter positions, after adding free agent Gordon Hayward and rookie LaMelo Ball.
The top two scorers from last season — guards Devonte Graham and Terry Rozier — are both back. Point guard Ball and small forward Hayward will each have the ball a lot. Cody Martin, who started with Hayward recovering from a broken finger, is Charlotte’s best “pound-for-pound defender” in Borrego’s description.
So fitting Monk back into the mix isn’t as simple as it might have been last season. But Monk’s own illness and Hayward’s fractured pinkie finger serve as examples of how quickly things change in an NBA season.
“You can’t control everything, so you’ve got to control what you can control. That’s what I learned” his first three seasons, Monk said. “You never know — with this COVID thing or somebody getting hurt ...
“Anything can happen. You’ve got to be ready.”
I think he is ready — not just physically, but emotionally, too. That’s a big departure from the Malik Monk we saw in the past.
This story was originally published December 20, 2020 at 2:00 AM.
