The Kings have wrapped up their season after losing to the Pelicans in today's play-in tournament. The Kings could have avoided the play-in race altogether, but they suffered from Monk's injury, which is why the Kings failed to make the playoffs this season. If Monk hadn't been injured, the Kings might have made it to the playoffs right now.
Sometimes a player has such a huge impact on the team, Monk and Fox form an outside double, and Monk is second only to Fox and Sabonis in the Kings scoring per game this season. He is a veritable three-man for the Kings, so the lack of such an offensive point has a huge impact on the Kings. The Kings will also face a very difficult problem in the offseason after the end of the season, which is that Monk's contract has completely expired and he has become a free agent.
After today's game, Fox also hoped after the game that Monk would be able to return next season. As we all know, the two have a very good relationship. But all the offseason operations were done by management, so Fox knew very well that it was business. It can be expected that the price of Monk's contract will definitely increase in the offseason. Monk can average 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game this season, which is definitely a contract with an annual salary of more than 20 million in the free market. So the Kings may have a hard time keeping Monk this offseason. After all, Murray will also face a contract extension in the future.
Monk is the type of player who will definitely be a hit when he enters the free market. There will definitely be a rush from the teams. Because Monk is the kind of plug-and-play player, he goes to any team that doesn't affect his play on the offensive end. He can attack with the ball and catch and shoot, and is a very typical offensive guard. He can go to any team to improve that team's offensive firepower, so there are a lot of teams with salary space that could throw an olive branch to Monk in the offseason.
The Kings are certainly going through a big change this offseason. At the moment, they have a playoff team, but they are definitely not a championship team, and they still have some problems with their roster, such as their defense has not been particularly good, and they may have to strengthen their defense as much as possible in the offseason. Of course, in the west, the competition has always been fierce. It's really hard for a team to form a championship team, and they have to maintain consistency at the core. Just like the Nuggets, their roster is very reasonable and very consistent, which is why they can always be at a high level.