Rumor: Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks discussed Malik Monk trade before deadline
The Charlotte Hornets and the New York Knicks reportedly discussed a deal involving Malik Monk before the trade deadline.
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the Charlotte Hornets and the New York Knicks discussed a potential trade for Malik Monk. O’Connor said that “prior to the deadline, I heard he was somebody that they were listening to offers for already … I heard some noise the Knicks were going for him prior to the deadline.”
Monk has had a pretty disappointing rookie season with Charlotte and there have already been multiple stories and trade rumors surrounding the 6’3 guard. The Hornets selected Malik with the 11th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and most thought they had gotten a steal when he fell outside of the top-10.
Although it’s unclear how far talks got between the Hornets and Knicks or who was involved in a potential deal, it’s clear that Charlotte was listening to offers/shopping Malik. Michael Scotto of The Athletic reported that the Queen City team was already shopping their first-round pick at the trade deadline. The Milwaukee Bucks were also a team rumored to be in for Monk. (WoelfelsPressBox.com)
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It’s worth noting that both Malik Monk and his agent thought New York was going to draft him when they were on the clock at No. 8. (NYDailyNews.com) The Knicks instead went with Frank Ntilikina and they added guard depth at the trade deadline by making a move for Emmanuel Mudiay.
After receiving ample minutes as the backup point guard early in the season when Michael Carter-Williams was out, Steve Clifford has since benched the University of Kentucky product. Monk has only appeared in 11 games since the start of 2018 with only two of those outings being for more than 10 minutes. He has received a number of DNP – CD and last scored in double-figures in early November.
The 20-year old is only averaging 5.0 points per game, 1.2 assists and 0.9 rebounds during his first season. Malik has only managed to shoot 33.5% from the field, 33.9% from three and 70.6% from the free throw line. His struggles on the defensive end have been evident as he has a team-worst 112 defensive rating.
Next: Predicting the second half of the season for Charlotte
Even though it looks like the Charlotte Hornets are already regretting their selection of Malik Monk less than a full season into his NBA career, both Kemba Walker and Steve Clifford have spoken highly of the rookie. Kemba thinks Malik will be a star for Charlotte one day while Coach Clifford has said that he believes Monk will be a good player.