Why Malik Monk’s upcoming free agency presents an intriguing question for Sacramento Kings

Malik Monk has a lot on the line this season — ahead of what should be a fascinating summer in free agency — but the Kings’ potent sixth man is trying to keep his mind on the present.

“I really don’t worry about that,” Monk said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. “Because I know if I just go out there and perform how I perform, and do the things I’ve been doing, it’ll work out for me.”

Monk is in the final season of the two-year, $19.4-million deal he signed with Sacramento in the summer of 2022, which means he’s set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He’s the Kings’ only regular rotation player who is not signed beyond 2023. While making $9.5 and $9.9 million in each of his two campaigns with the Kings, he will have made less than two of his teammates who have offered similar production.

One is Harrison Barnes, who will make $17 million this season before making $18 million and $19 million over the next two seasons. The other is Kevin Huerter, whose salary ranges from $14.5 million last season to $18 million in 2025-26. Both were scoring less than Monk’s average of 13.2 points going into Tuesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors while Monk’s 5.0 assists rank third on the team behind All-Stars Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox.

Monk in last spring’s playoff series against the Warriors was second on the Kings in scoring, averaging 19.0 per game in his first postseason appearance. He led the team in plus-minus at plus-36 throughout the seven games and was pivotal in Games 1 and 6 with 32- and 28-point performances.

Suffice to say, Monk’s upcoming free agency will be interesting to watch. The Kings are expected to be roughly $20 million below the luxury tax next summer as the roster is currently constructed and Monk could have a case for a substantial raise if can replicate his playoff production again.

“I think once he got to Sacramento, we’ve seen his offensive game open up,” New Orleans Pelicans coach Willie Green said last week. “You have to mention him with the top sixth-man candidates in the NBA. He’s coming in, he’s giving their team a life. He’s like instant offense off the bench and all teams are aware of him.”

Monk is also one of the few Kings players who can consistently create their own shot, which is why improving in that area has been a focus for Keegan Murray in his second NBA season. But while Murray is still very much a work in progress in that area, Monk is a known quantity for head coach Mike Brown.

“He’s valuable from the standpoint that he can go create a shot for himself or others,” Brown said. “A lot of our guys get their stuff through the offense that we run — the pace and spacing, ball reversals and stuff like that — and they feed off of others. But Malik is one of the guys others feed off of.”

Monk as of Monday ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring off the bench at 13.2 points per game among players who have appeared in 15 contests. He ranked fifth in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season with the Kings while averaging 13.5 points per game.

Monk remains unsatisfied. When asked how he thinks his season has gone so far, Monk said: “Probably like a B or B-minus. I gotta string a few more games consistently together on the defensive end and offensive end. That would bump it up to a B or B-plus. It’s not going to be an A until I average 20.”