Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Malik Monk intends to stay with the Kings and sign a four-year, $78 million contract that includes a player option for the final year, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday night, citing sources.
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Re-signing Monk was the Kings' top offseason priority and general manager Monte McNair was able to secure an agreement three days after the conclusion of the NBA Finals.
Monk had a chance to test free agency on June 30, but passed up that opportunity to stay with the Kings, where he has found a home alongside former Kentucky teammate De'Aaron Fox.
Monk officially can sign the agreed upon Kings contract on July 6.
While other teams could have offered Monk more money if he had hit the open market, $78 million is the maximum amount the Kings were able to offer him.
NBA
Per ESPN's Bobby Marks, Monk will earn $17.4 million during the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season, while his player option for the 2027-28 season is worth $21.6 million.
In the end, that was enough for one of the NBA's best bench players.
Monk averaged a career-high 15.4 points and 5.1 assists in 26 minutes over 72 games for the Kings last season. He shot 44.3 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range.
Those numbers were good enough for a second-place finish in Sixth Man of the Year voting, as Monk lost out to Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid.
Monk's two best NBA seasons have come in Sacramento and he plans to keep the good times rolling.
Now the goal for McNair and Co. is to add more pieces around Fox, Monk, Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray to help get the Kings back to the NBA playoffs.