2017 FanSided NBA Network Mock Draft: Let the experts decide

8

Malik Monk

Shooting Guard, Kentucky

The New York Knicks are one of the few teams that can accommodate Malik Monk’s style of play as a shooting guard in a point guard’s body. This is admittedly the perfect era for Monk to be playing in, but he still needs the right system to highlight his abilities and mask his flaws.

In the triangle offense, Monk would be able to play the point guard position without having to go out of his element as a ball-dominant facilitator.

In the triangle, Monk’s role as the point guard would be to create penetration, move without the ball, and space the floor. That’s a simplified version of his outlined obligations, but it’s fitting for the way Monk approaches and plays the game.

While most point guard prospects are still searching for how to play without the ball in their hands, Monk’s ability to curl off of screens and knock down jump shots is one of his primary strengths.

In New York, Monk’s 3-point shooting would create spacing for the likes of Willy Hernangomez and Kristaps Porzingis to work the low block or pick-and-roll. His athleticism would give New York the measure of explosiveness that’s been missing for far too long.

Monk’s defensive inconsistency and lack of an identity as a facilitator could push the Knicks away, but the Kentucky star has a rare combination of elite shooting ability and explosive athleticism.

Many have one or the other, but the select few who combine both tend to experience success that ranges from Eric Gordon to Brandon Roy.

— Maxwell Ogden, Daily Knicks, @DailyKnicksFS