Phoenix Suns Draft Watch: Malik Monk
By Andrew Clark
The draft watch continues this week with the first Kentucky player we have previewed: Malik Monk.
In our Mock Draft 1.0 we project Monk to the Dallas Mavericks with the 10th overall pick.
Player Comparison
The freshman shooting guard out of Kentucky is compared by NBADraft.net to former journeyman Larry Hughes. (Not the best player comparison ever made).
Monk is a big-time scorer at the best program in the country. He averaged 19.8 points, 2.5 boards, 2.3 assists, and a steal per game as a freshman. In Hughes’ freshman year at St Louis he put up comparable stats with about 21 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals a night.
The two aren’t physically similar. Hughes stands at 6’5″ and weighed 180lbs while Monk is a shorter and broader at 6’3″ and 200 lbs. They aren’t the same kind of shooter either. Hughes made 69% from the free throw line, hit 46% from 2-pt range and 29% from deep. Monk is superior across the board while playing against much better competition than Hughes saw at St. Louis. This season Malik shoot 82% from the line, 50% from within the arc, and 40% from deep. I think that a better comparison for Monk is as a skinnier version of Eric Gordon.
Why the Suns Would Want Him
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A Royal Pain
At this point, it is hard to imagine the Suns would ever want Malik Monk. That’s not because he’s not an elite player, but it is because a guy named Devin Booker is here to stay for the next decade. If the Suns acquired a mid-range pick and Monk fell, they might snag him to play a Jamal Crawford role of first guard off the bench. Monk did light up North Carolina for a jaw dropping 47 on December 17, shooting 18-28 from the field. And being a high-volume scorer from Kentucky on the roster playing behind or beside Devin Booker would create an inter-roster rivalry that could raise both players’ performances on the court.
You can never have enough shooters and no team will be disappointed to have Monk. At worse, he will be a Louis Williams/Eric Gordon type player who comes off the bench and lights it up from downtown. At best, he develops the ability to drive and dish and becomes a 2015 edition of Brandon Knight who prior to his trade to Phoenix was a borderline All-Star.
Why the Suns Would Not Want Him
The Suns will almost certainly put Monk near the bottom of their draft rankings. If he was a premier defender, he would be an interesting option as a backup or compliment to Booker. However, he’s too short to guard most elite shooting guards and hasn’t shown a tendency to be an elite defender. Having two defensively challenged shooting guards on one team just doesn’t make sense.
Also Monk doesn’t fit the style the Suns seem set on playing. The team is adopting the Warriors/Spurs/Blazers mold of running out five guys who can all pass, drive, and switch. Monk doesn’t drive and finish well, doesn’t pass well, doesn’t switch well, and therefore doesn’t fit the mold of the team’s strategy. Teams who need position players and scoring like the Kings or the Knicks will overvalue what Monk brings to the table and likely select him after the Suns pick in the top-5, but before they might be able to trade back into the first round where he could be worth an investment from the Suns.
Next: Draft Watch: Should the SUns Draft Jayson Tatum
Conclusion
If ever there was a player in the top-ten that the Suns should avoid like the plague, it’s Monk. That’s not to disrespect him, he’s got considerable upside and he’s an elite college player. He just doesn’t work for Phoenix unless they’re planning to trade Booker and it’s doubtful that even Robert Sarver is that much of a gambler.