Charlotte Hornets: How good can Malik Monk really be?

Charlotte Hornets’ guard Malik Monk is entering his second season with massive expectations from the fanbase. Can he live up to the hype?

Ask any Charlotte Hornets‘ fan which player they are looking forward to seeing this year, and the answer will be Malik Monk or Miles Bridges. (If they say “Frank Kaminsky Break-out Season” just walk away.)

Let’s focus on Monk. Last year was far from perfect, earning only a B- from S&S writer Noah Purser. But a meteoric rise from the young two-guard this season would be about the best thing that could possibly happen to this franchise in 2018-19 short of Steph catching a sudden and irreversible case of homesickness. How likely is that kind of improvement? Monk will be better in Year Two, no doubt, but what could his year (and career) possibly look like?

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The Most Likely Career Outcome: Lou #2

You probably won’t like me for saying this, but Malik Monk is the ultimate Summer League player. That sounds like an insult, right? You were hoping I’d say something like Monk is the ultimate two-guard in the modern NBA or the ultimate second-year break-out candidate. Those certainly have better rings to them, but I don’t think they’re accurate.

No, I meant what I said. The up-and-down, “play defense if you feel like it” environment is built for guys like Monk who love to run in transition, get buckets, and look really, really good on Twitter the next day. (You can thus understand why a certain team in Atlanta would be so nervous to see its shoot-first rookie guard struggling at all this summer.)

But this “gunner” approach to basketball isn’t a bad thing if you can put it in the hoop half the time. After all, there is simply nothing more valuable in the NBA than a guy who can make shots, especially on his own. Monk has demonstrated in college that he can “get his” offensively–off-the-dribble, catch-and-shoot, dribble drives, cuts, you name it. And there’s no questioning his athleticism is elite even by NBA standards.

Before his thumb injury, the young man was cooking at Summer League, putting up 23 points in 27 minutes in his debut game.

I must warn you that the following highlight video may be considered dangerous for any Hornets fans to watch; you may be tempted to sell your belongings to immediately buy a Malik Monk jersey for everyone that you care about in this world:

So what’s the bad news? First, will Monk ever be considered a two-way player? Probably not. His length and lack of natural instincts at this admittedly early point in his career lead one to believe he will be an average defender at absolute best. Second, he’s also a limited playmaker, averaging a 16.9% assist percentage in his first year (for reference, Jeremy Lamb had 15.4%, and he’s a full-time shooting guard).

There is an argument to be made that he was misused last season by Clifford’s staff, playing 59% of his time on the court at Point Guard according to Basketball-Reference. Still, this is a relatively low number for the primary or secondary ball handler in an offense. (For the record, new coach Borrego seems negative toward the idea of Monk at the 1, recently saying that PG minutes will be essentially divided between Kemba and Tony Parker.)

All things considered, Monk’s combination of hot-shot scoring, elite athleticism, average playmaking, and diminutive size will likely result in a career path similar to Lou Williams, the Clippers guard.

This may not sound like a great comp, but remember that Williams nearly got an All-star nod this year in a stacked Western Conference. Williams has been a career sixth man but is currently enjoying a sort of career renaissance as a starting guard who makes up for his small size with offensive firepower.

Luckily, Monk is a better athlete than Williams, and he’s playing in an NBA that rewards shooting and pace more than ever. If Monk can become a 20/5 player with near 40% three-point shooting, he’ll be exactly the kind of piece you want when you’re building a team without a transcendent superstar.