The Sacramento Kings are going to start their postseason run without one of their best players. Sixth Man of the Year contender Malik Monk will miss four-to-six weeks due to a sprained right MCL.
Monk was injured early in the Kings loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. The veteran guard left in the first quarter and didn’t return. The Kings also lost guard Kevin Huerter to season-ending shoulder surgery earlier this week.
This season, Monk has averaged 15.4 points and 5.1 assists in 72 games off the Sacramento bench. That production has Monk as one of the leaders to win Sixth Man of the Year.
The Kings have nine games remaining in the season. The Play-In Tournament starts in just over two weeks. As of Saturday, Sacramento is the 8th seed in the Western Conference. The NBA Playoffs start in three weeks. That means Monk likely needs the Kings to advance past the first round before he’d be able to return.