Kings general manager Monte McNair made moves during the offseason to ensure that Sacramento's playoff drought ends at 16 NBA seasons, and one of the biggest additions for the 2022-23 NBA season was guard Malik Monk.
Monk signed a two-year contract worth $19 million to join his former college teammate De'Aaron Fox on the Kings. Additionally, the 24-year-old immediately saw how Sacramento fans have craved a playoff team since their last postseason appearance in 2006.
"The fans is crazy, right?" Monk told NBC Sports California's Matt Barnes on the second episode of "Court Vision," which airs during "Kings Pregame Live" on Saturday. "So as I landed in the airport, they're like, 'Please change this for us.' They wanted it, man. They wanted to change that. I wanted to be a part of that. So that was another reason to come here."
Along with signing Monk in free agency, the Kings acquired Kevin Huerter in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks. There also was the selection of Keegan Murray with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Furthermore, the Kings were going to have an entire season of Domantas Sabonis, who they traded for last February.
The Kings quietly were a playoff dark house for many entering this season, considering the nucleus of players led by first-year coach Mike Brown and Fox. However, the team has surpassed all expectations most in the NBA media had for them.
Following their 118-113 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night at Golden 1 Center, the Kings are one of the top Western Conference teams as they sit in third place (26-18).
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If Sacramento fans want visual evidence that changes are happening following the additions of players like Monk, they can look at the teams who are looking up at them in the NBA standings.