NBA Rumors: Malik Monk, Kings Agree to 4-Year, $78M Contract Before 2024 Free Agency

Malik Monk played the best basketball of his career in 2023-24 for the Sacramento Kings, and he reportedly isn't going anywhere.

The guard agreed to re-sign with the Kings on a four-year, $78 million deal Friday, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

It doesn't come as a significant surprise that Monk decided to return to the Kings.

After all, he told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype in April: "I'm comfortable in Sacramento. I'd love to play here again for sure. I've been here for two years and made friends with everyone, including the training staff and front office. I'd love to be back here."

Even teammate Domantas Sabonis told Scotto: "We better keep him. I think there's no excuse."

Keep him the Kings did, and Monk will look to stay healthy on his new deal.

He suffered a sprained right MCL during a March 29 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, which sidelined him for the rest of the season. Wojnarowski reported the expectation was he would miss four to six weeks, which meant Sacramento needed to advance in the playoffs if he was going to return.

The Kings struggled down the stretch of the regular season without him and fell into the Western Conference play-in tournament.

They lost to the New Orleans Pelicans in that play-in tournament, and he was unable to return from his setback.

It made sense Sacramento was a different team without him, as he finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting while averaging 15.4 points, 5.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 35 percent from deep.

Monk's ability to space the floor played perfectly alongside Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox with the former drawing double-teams on the blocks and the latter creating open looks for teammates with his penetration and ability to get out in transition.

Monk also played for the Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers earlier in his career, although he never quite lived up to the expectations and pressure surrounding him as the No. 11 overall pick of 2017 NBA draft out of Kentucky during his first four seasons for Charlotte.

While he posted a then-career-best 13.8 points per game in his one season for the Lakers in 2020-21, he seemed to fully turn the corner the past two seasons for the Kings and helped turn them into a Western Conference threat.

At just 26 years old, he also figures to be a key part of their core for the coming years as they look to take the next step from playoff candidate to true contender.