Charlotte Hornets: Is Malik Monk in a funk? Or is this an unfortunate reality?
With hopes of having a breakout season, Malik Monk has struggled early on for the Charlotte Hornets. It could just be a slump, but it could also be a tell tale.
After losing a major chunk of their scoring during the off-season, Malik Monk figured to become a key piece to the Charlotte Hornets offense during the 2019-20 season. We are just three games into the season, but the third-year guard has struggled early on.
Monk was active in the season opener against Chicago, scoring seven points and dishing out three assists in Charlotte’s lone win on the season. In the two recent losses, though, Monk has been a mess.
He has gone scoreless against the Timberwolves and the Lakers, shooting a combined 0-7 from the floor and 0-4 from deep. To make matters worse, he’s also a combined -53 in 34 minutes of action in that two-game span.
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To his credit, Monk has shown some nice improvement in other areas, like his playmaking and even defensively. He got a lot stronger over the summer, which has come in handy for him when he is attacking the basket. He won’t get pushed around as much as he used to.
Now, I’m not saying that I’ve given up on Malik Monk and have come to expect this from him, but it may be time to start questioning whether or not he will ever be the big time scorer many pegged him to be coming into the league.
Many people have already questioned this, I’m sure, but there’s more red flags this time around. He still can’t seem to crack the starting lineup or even play over 20 minutes per game, and that’s with Nicolas Batum out of the lineup with an injury.
I don’t want to overreact over two poor performances, because that happens to all players. I am, however, very surprised with his lack of big minutes during both preseason and the regular season.
Going into the season, it was believed that one of Batum or Monk would start for the Charlotte Hornets, but things have changed. PJ Washington is looking like an 82-game starter at the power forward spot, which shifts Miles Bridges back to his small forward position and Dwayne Bacon to the shooting guard position.
It’s become clear that Bacon is a keeper and a guy that will likely not only be a starter for many years for the Hornets, but a guy that will also be a featured scorer. This is what many thought what happen to Monk this season.
Instead, Monk remains in his usual bench role, fighting for all the playing time he can get while carefully avoiding mistakes so he doesn’t get pulled. Luckily, he still has 79 left in the season to improve and earn more minutes.
At this point, Monk’s best case scenario moving forward may be as a sixth man. The most important thing, in my opinion, is for Monk to go out there and play freely. Let the game come to him and do his thing.
No Kemba, New Offense. dark. Next
Hopefully Monk can break out of this two-game funk for the Charlotte Hornets and make big contributions off the bench. The chances of him being the star many saw at Kentucky are slim, but he still has a chance to be a solid piece.