It's time for Malik Monk (Bentonville) to stop teasing the Charlotte Hornets. He needs to get substantially better and play a more essential role in 2020-21, or else it's going to be time to cut the cord with the No. 11 pick of the 2017 NBA Draft.
Infamously chosen by the Hornets over future NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell, Monk has shown flashes of elite scoring ability. But Monk's primary characteristic has been inconsistency -- he will shoot 7 for 10 in one game and then 1 for 10 in the next. It's telling that he has started only a single game in three seasons for a Hornets team that's been below .500 in all three of his years in Charlotte.
Just when Monk was playing his best basketball in late February, the former University of Kentucky star got himself shut down indefinitely, without pay, for a violation of the NBA's anti-drug policy. Monk's third NBA season ended Feb. 26, when that suspension was announced, two weeks before the coronavirus eventually ended the season for the rest of his Charlotte teammates.
It's been an underwhelming career so far. Monk, 22, was back in the news Monday because Charlotte General Manager Mitch Kupchak revealed that the NBA had reinstated Monk. "Whenever we can resume some [group] activity, hopefully on a formal basis, he'll be there," Kupchak said of Monk.
I have always liked Monk's confidence. Shooters need that. I remember shortly after the Hornets drafted him in 2017 -- but before Monk had ever played an NBA game -- when he told me that his shooting range started "when I walk in the gym."
Then I asked him how his range compared to Steph Curry, the former Davidson star and two-time NBA MVP.
"Mine is better than his," Monk said.
Really?
"Oh, probably not," Monk allowed. "But you've got to have that confidence."
In his third NBA season in 2019-20, Monk was finally succeeding in driving the ball more and getting fouled. His three-point percentage actually went down last season, to a subpar 28.4, but his points per game inched up to 10.3 (sixth best on the team). He had cracked Coach James Borrego's rotation for good and was averaging 21 minutes per game. His defense had improved from bad to average.
In an interview with the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell two weeks before his suspension, Monk said of his first two NBA seasons: "I went to Kentucky, and I still wasn't ready for the NBA. Some days you're tired. Or your body hurts. Or you have a headache. And nobody wants to hear that. You've got to fight through that."
Now it's time for Monk to fight more than he ever has before, because the suspension added more question marks to a career that didn't need them.
It's still not clear what part of the drug policy Monk violated, and it wasn't initially clear when Monk would be back. The Hornets said only they were "disappointed" in Monk's "decision-making" but would support him. The NBA said in its release that Monk's suspension would "continue until he is determined to be in full compliance with the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program."
That has happened, and Monk is back. Last October, the Hornets had picked up his contract option for 2020-21, which will earn him about $5.3 million next season. And it's almost certain he will play in Charlotte next year, because his trade value dropped with the suspension, too.
So the Hornets have him for at least another year, and they must make him better. There's no use constantly revisiting that 2017 draft mistake under then-GM Rich Cho, where some in the organization advocated for Mitchell (picked two spots later).
Mitchell has been a 22 ppg NBA scorer and starter since the day he walked into the league. Monk has hardly ever had the kind of immediate impact he had during his one-and-done year at Kentucky, where he once scored 47 points in a wild win over North Carolina in 2016.
"We welcome him [Monk] back, and we've got work to do this summer," Borrego said Monday. "And I know he's ready to do it."
I hope that's true. For a lottery pick, the Hornets are owed more than an off-and-on scorer.
And Monk owes more to himself, too. There's still talent there. But is there enough maturity to harness it?