Kings lose Malik Monk after MCL sprain in right knee, to be re-evaluated in 4 weeks

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) – Malik Monk’s season, as well as his future in Sacramento, may be in jeopardy.

The Kings learned on Saturday afternoon that Monk suffered a sprained MCL in his right knee which will sideline him before he is re-evaluated in four weeks.

Monk, 26, was injured in the first quarter of Friday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks when he fouled a driving Luka Doncic, who then fell on Monk’s right leg under the basket. Monk was helped to his feet by teammates after the collision and then limped his way to Sacramento’s locker room before he was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

That recovery time could end Monk’s season if the Kings are unable to work their way into the playoffs and put together a meaningful run.

As the odds-on-favorite for the Sixth Man of the Year award, Monk has enjoyed the finest NBA season of his career. He posted career-high averages with 15.4 points and 5.1 assists per game, while averaging 26 minutes per contest off the Kings bench. He missed just one game this season, which resulted in a 110-98 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves back on Dec. 23 at Golden 1 Center.

Monk, who signed a two-year deal with Sacramento as a free agent before last season, will become a free agent this summer.

With Friday’s loss to the Mavs, the Kings (42-31) fell to eighth place in the Western Conference standings, two games behind Dallas in sixth place with nine games remaining in the regular season for Sacramento.

The NBA’s play-in tournament consists of teams positioned between seventh and 10^th place in the standings, which means if Sacramento falls below the sixth seed, the Kings would need to earn their way into a playoff matchup with a play-in victory, and if that happens, the earliest Monk could return to action would be in the middle of a first-round playoff series.

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