Kings' Malik Monk to Miss Time As Team Jockeys for Play-in Tournament Position

The Sacramento guard is enjoying a career scoring year.

Malik Monk warms up before a game against the Hornets. / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

If the Sacramento Kings want to make the playoffs, it appears they'll have to do so without one of their top scorers.

Kings guard Malik Monk will miss at least two weeks due to a left calf strain, according to a Wednesday afternoon report from ESPN's Shams Charania.

Monk, 27, is averaging a career-best 17.2 points per game this season—his eighth in the league. The 2017 All-American at Kentucky has reinvented himself as a reliable sixth man in recent years, garnering votes for the Sixth Man of the Year award in both 2023 and 2024.

With three games left in the regular season, Sacramento is currently 39-40—ninth in the Western Conference. It leads the Dallas Mavericks by one game in the race to host a play-in game.

Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk will be re-evaluated in two weeks due to a left calf strain, sources tell ESPN. This timetable sidelines Monk – averaging a career-high 17.2 points – for rest of regular season and Play-In games. pic.twitter.com/v0GG8ugnGN

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 9, 2025

Monk's two-week timetable, as Charania noted, would encompass the remainder of the regular season and the play-in tournament. He has played 65 games this season and started 45.

The Kings are scheduled to play the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night at home.

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