KING IN ARABIC

The salary cap FAQs everywhere say early-Bird requires two year minimum before you can do an option either way.

And, if the salary cap FAQs aren't enough, here's the text from the CBA itself:

Two years minimum, right there in black and white.

cbafaq.com

so then the question is, why does he of all people not know this? I’m just baffled by it and was hoping there is some angle we aren’t seeing.

Surprising. Keith Smith is great, not like him to miss this.

I mean, I don't know what he's thinking. Maybe he's thinking about us giving him a one-year **MLE** deal and then using Full Bird next offseason. Maybe he's thinking about us giving him a two-year Early Bird deal and then using Full Bird rights. But either way he explicitly said "one year about $17M", so...it sure as heck sounds like he was thinking Early Bird. But Early Bird must be two guaranteed years. "...must cover at least two seasons..." is not exactly ambiguous.

I've tweeted Keith about it multiple times during the season because I think I had researched every Monk angle by about mid-January.

he never replied. nor did any other expert that missed this part of the rules.
Incidentally I think Larry Coon didn't have it on there earlier in the year I was getting it right off the NBA page.

Thanks Capt F I will never can get a full grasp

LMAO when i read this…. Curry???…All that’s playing in my head is that “whatever” they shout over the PA when we get screwed over on a play…..

If Monk comes back we could start him and then look for a defensive stud at the 4. A DFS or even Ryan Dunn type. Keon has been so good and makes such winning plays its hard to know what the right move is. Keon was basically KCP the last 10 games. If he can refine his offense just a bit and play that level of defense all season? Going to be hard to keep him out of the starting lineup.

The Locked on Podcast today featured a guy who covers the Magic. He things Monk is near the top of the Magic's free agent list but he still thinks its most likely Monk signs with the Kings. He said the Magic usually Zig when everyone expects them to Zag. He things the Magic might use the cap space in trades or go for players like Claxton or Hartenstein.

Clax or Hartenstein just make significantly more sense. Their big slot is probably their only "unsolved" position on the roster. Franz/Paolo obviously at the 3/4, Isaac had an awesome awesome comeback year and we've talked about their huge investment in their back-court already with Black at pick 6, Suggs at 5 (who's a locked in starter) and then their own version of Monk in Cole Anthony. They are playing Gary Harris 28 MPG in the playoffs right now, so who knows? Maybe they hold onto him as a vet leader on their team? Fultz has also been hurt this year, but when healthy, he's a key rotation guy for them too. He's another guy they'll have to make a decision on.

Hartenstein would be an awesome fit I think. Dude deserves a shot to be a locked in starter for a team. He's too damn good.

I think what will really help us in retaining Monk is what D'Angelo Russell decides to do. Didn't realize how good a season he had until I saw his stats - 18/3/6 on 45% and 41.5% from 3. Hopefully he decides to decline his player option because the teams interested in Monk should be more interested in Russell if he's available because they're similar players, but he's an actual PG. Russell should be looking to cash in on the year he just had also.

IMO after losing out on the 6th Man of the Year award, Monk is going to want a starting SG spot on whichever team he signs with. Monk has gone on record as hating coming off the bench and losing out on the 6MOY award ain’t going to help.

Considering what he has proven with the Kings, I think MB and the Kings should reward him with the starting gig. If they do start him next year I think they may need to find a defensive shot blocker at the 4/5 spot opposite Domas. This is when a big defensive shot blocker would make sense to erase defensive mistakes by our other starters. A possibility in the draft could be someone like Zach Edey which would be an imposing roadblock to players attacking the lane and also someone that has good scoring touch around the basket.

I like Monk a lot and would hate to lose him but giving him a starting job just so he doesn't leave completely undermines both his value to the team and our coach's ability to define the roster and roles. It should be a non-starter unless Coach Brown decides that is the best path to team success. It would require we invest in both a defensive upgrade at the starting 4 and also another high octane offensive threat to come off the bench. Very costly propositions.

Since Monk is an unrestricted FA, we are basically trying to court a top free agent along with every other team. If we go on negotiations stating that he will remain a 6th man, I think he is as good as gone.

Monk has proven he is a starting caliber SG. If MB doesn’t relent and give him at least the opportunity to start, he will sign elsewhere. Monk has said in many interviews he views himself as a starter and hates coming off the bench.

We can’t expect Monk to keep sacrificing for the team, especially since he has proven he one of our top 4 players for 2 years. As an unrestricted free agent he has a choice of his role and team now.

I get that but we don't need more scoring and no defense in our starting lineup. We do need it off the bench. While the salary would be quite a bit lighter its the same principle why I wasn't excited about targeting Beal or Lavine vs. role guys that will make up the shortcomings between a Fox-Keegan-Domas core. Monk does not help that core.

Also we can clown on "LeGM" but if you let Monk demand to start you are basically ceding control of your franchise to your 6th man.

Let’s not look at Monk as our own free agent but as an unrestricted free agent looking for a new contract (which he is). If we were trying to sign Monk off the street after what he has proven and told him his role is 6th man only, there is no way we can sign him. The only way we would be able to sign him is if we offered him a shot at the starting SG spot. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to sign a FA of Monk’s caliber.

And just randomly signing Monk to be our starter when we need a starter with Keon's tools & skills is exactly why I'm against this. Starting Monk is a horrible fit and not the same player that 6th man Monk is. If we're going to evaluate in a new role/assignment we have to look at what we are losing and what we need to replace, and the cost of adding "starter Monk" vs. the costs of replacing 6th Man Monk and still filling in the other glaring holes on this roster.

I think making Monk a starter is taking two steps back without one step forward. I'll die on that hill.

What’s the better option, the two steps back without one step forward or like the seven steps back losing him for nothing would be? The dude saved us far more than he ever hurt us these past two seasons. I can’t imagine how lousy and this past season would have been without Monk. Dude’s a X-Factor we will not be able to replicate on the market.

They both suck. But promising a starting job as some hail mary to get a guy to take a discount and re-sign completely undermines your coach and gives every other player leverage when signing they haven't had. What if other players pull that ish?

I ain't down with it.

Sacramento is never in the position it bleed talent. If a player pulls this demand ish, you examine the circumstances. On this team, Monk is better than Hurter. Especially after this past down season and now big injury. He absolutely should start in front of him on all rosters. Sure, Ellis fits the starting lineup much better, but Malik has him beat in terms of raw talent. This isn’t like he’s asking to start in front of a guy like Lillard or even McCollum. He’s earned the shot, especially on this roster, and if that keeps Sacramento from losing a big piece of talent Brown needs to get over his stubbornness and make it work.

It's a thought exercise because I'm convinced he's leaving at this point. But I just don't see starter Monk as the same thing as 6th man Monk. We need 6th Man Monk even if it's a different player. We don't need another scorer with questionable defensive tendencies starting. We already didn't have enough shots to go around in the starting lineup that we were constantly risking icing out one of our guys because another couldn't get hot unless he got a dozen shots. I guess if you actually found your shot blocking rim running PF that sits perfect between Keegan and Domas you can afford this luxury but most people are talking about adding another offensive minded questionable defender at the 4 too.

I don't think Huerter should be starting either. It's clear the team picked something up when we actually had a defender who can do the other things vs. an offense oriented player who tries to play defense with lukewarm results.

Don't get me started on advanced stats because I am not a big fan but they also don't like Monk as a starter.

I really like Monk but he's our 4th best player at best and giving him that power is stupid to me. If it's a "hey, we'll mix up the lineups and start you when it makes basketball sense" I would like to see Brown be more flexible. If it's the same thing Brown does where everyone signs a contract at the start of the season and Brown honors it we'll be looking for a new coach soon.

Agreed. Monk was the heart and soul of this team. When he went down, the season was lost.

No denying that the season was lost once he went down but it wasn't because we came out slow in first quarters.

Keon starting was revelatory. I am not saying he is the final answer but those are the tools you want in that spot.

Tools are well and fine if you’re anywhere near contending. We aren’t. We missed the playoffs. In our *good* season, they still lost in the first round. It’s talent that matters before you round out the rest of the roster and the rough edges with better fitting tools.

You're treating a complimentary player like he's an all star. He's not. I don't like advanced stats but they really show that we should not be starting him. I really like Monk too so I feel bad saying all of this. I love when he does connect with Fox and what they have for each other. But starting him we will be a worse team for it, and we'll still need to go find a player to do what Monk did as 6th man because we won't have that.

Im treating him like this because there is a zero percent chance we replicate what he brings in the free agent market. Im treating him like this because we know what an X-Factor he’s been for this team the past two years. Talent wise, sure he’s the 4th best guy and not an all-star but he’s only a small step behind Fox and Domas in terms of importance to this team.

I know the advanced stats tell a different story, but there’s an advanced stat for absolutely everything that can fill your narrative. We know what Monk means to this team. It’s going to be rough with him gone.

This sounds like an exaggeration. Monk had not been playing well going into the game where he was injured....and there were lots of bad loses when he was available

I think we make the playoffs if he's healthy and he will be a tough hole to fill but his importance to the team was as the spark plug when the engine is sputtering he could come in and reignite the team. Make him the starter and you still need that new spark plug off the bench.

Anyways some dumb team is going to outbid us and probably tell him he can start and then we can either laugh at them or we can be sad about some alternate reality where we have 4 starters averaging 20+ ppg and somehow don't completely fall apart in the middle of a game.

IMO Monk is the one player with a "fearless- take no prisoners attitudes" that helps fire up the other guys when he is out there. He is not perfect, but when he is in the game, you can feel the confidence and attitude level ratchet up for the team. It would be very difficult to replace that fire and production in Free agency with only the MLE to use.