Charlotte Hornets: The Good and Bad from the Returning Core
Malik Monk
The Good
Monk’s career as a Hornet has been characterized by huge flashes of potential amid false starts and setbacks. Because of this, he might be the most stan-able rotation player in the Charlotte Hornets circles online. The latest of those hitches came when he missed crucial days in training camp due to Covid protocols. He’ll be looking to continue the momentum of his solid month of play in February that was cut off by a suspension for violating the NBA’s drug policy.
Though he only played limited minutes in the last 3 games because of the time he missed in training camp, Monk looked very solid off the bench. Most of his shots came on drive attempts, and he scored efficiently on those. He leveraged that rim pressure that Lamelo doesn’t quite have yet into crucial shot-creation for the second unit with easy dump passes for dunks, mostly to Biyombo.
His speed and bounce will come in handy for the transition-happy bench unit. His vocal communication offensively and defensively will help that inexperienced group as well.
Malik continues to showcase the elite athleticism that allows him to play larger than he actually is. He still has untapped upside as a defender if he can continue to be consistent as the only player on the Hornets’ roster who can match the speed and quickness of any guard in the league. He should be a good option to shut down microwave scorers like Jordan Clarkson on second units.
By the way, before you consider Malik as a hot seat candidate while he awaits a contract extension or the possibility of re-signing, keep this in mind: he’s still 22 years old and was born in the same year as Miles Bridges, PJ Washington, and Jalen McDaniels. He’s 2 and a half years younger than Cody and Caleb Martin.
The Bad
Not-so-fun fact: among active players with a career 85% or better free throw percentage and100+ games played, Malik is inexplicably dead last in career 3P% at 32.2 (per Stathead.com). If you were asked to guess his 3P% based on every bit of information available except for film and NBA 3 point numbers, you’d probably guess he shot 37-38% from that range.
He hit 2 of 6 such attempts this preseason. That’s too small a sample size to be at all telling, but becoming a plus shooter from 3 will be pivotal in determining Monk’s NBA future.
Despite encouraging quotes from coaches and teammates last season before and after his drug policy suspension, Monk continues his struggle to get on the floor consistently and stay there. If his minutes this preseason are any indication, they paint him as the 10th-13th man when everyone is healthy. He will likely compete with Cody and Caleb Martin for minutes through the first half of the season. He’ll probably have to become an undeniable scoring threat to jump both.