Kings' Malik Monk diagnosed with MCL sprain, out 4-6 weeks
Malik Monk — the Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner and critical part of the Sacramento Kings — will be out 4-6 weeks, with a sprained MCL.
This was expected coming out of Friday night, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news Saturday, which has since been confirmed by other Kings reporters.
Even on the early end of that 4-6 week timeline Monk would be out until the end of April, meaning the Kings would need to advance out of the play-in — they are currently the No. 8 seed and would need to win a game to reach the playoffs — and likely advance to the second round before Monk can play. And a return in four weeks is optimistic, based on history.
Re: Malik Monk: The estimated timeline is consistent with a Grade 2 MCL sprain. Grade 2 sprains, also known as partial or incomplete tears, result in an average of ~41 days lost (~21 games). Other players to suffer the injury include Kevin Durant, Marc Gasol, and SGA.
— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) March 30, 2024
Monk's injury occurred in the first quarter Friday night against Dallas, when he had a collision with a driving Luka Doncic. He did not return to the game.
Malik Monk went to the Kings' locker room after this collision with Luka Dončić pic.twitter.com/24JzYM4bk5
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) March 30, 2024
Monk is averaging 15.4 points and 5.1 assists a game off the bench for Sacramento, shooting 35% from 3, and is a critical part of the rotation, including often closing games. He is the frontrunner to win Sixth Man of the Year (and this time away will not impact that, Sixth Man is not an award that falls under the league's new 65-game rule).
