Frank thoughts from Monk on Knick pick
After a positive dinner with the Knicks and a workout focused on the triangle, Malik Monk was absolutely convinced he’d be drafted by Phil Jackson.
And for good reason. His agent, Jeff Schwartz — one of the most powerful in the NBA — served as a reliable source.
“Me, my agent, everybody in my agency, my family — we thought we were going to New York,” Monk told the Daily News last week after a posing for his Panini trading card. “It was here, my agent is here (based in New York), a great agent, everybody thought it was going to be here. Went to dinner with (Jackson), had a great workout, everything was positive.”
Indeed, there were members of the Knicks organization who pushed for Monk, a 19-year-old guard with a sweet shooting stroke. But Jackson instead opted for French point guard Frank Ntilikina with the eighth pick, and current president Steve Mills later co-signed.
“They told me I was a shooter, a great shooter,” Monk said of his feedback from the Knicks. “They were just really trying to tell me to learn how to work off the triangle. They were trying to teach me concepts about the triangle.”
Monk, who averaged 19.8 points during his lone season at Kentucky, dropped to 11th for the Charlotte Hornets amid concerns that he’s position-less in the NBA (too small for shooting guard and not enough of a playmaker for a point guard). He’ll get his first chance to show New York it made a mistake on Nov. 7, when the Knicks host the Hornets at Madison Square Garden.
“Of course (it’s motivation to show-up a team that passed on me in the draft),” Monk said. “You know you want to go No. 1 pick anyway. So whoever don’t pick you, you’re going to remember that. I mean, they’re going to see.”
While explaining his Ntilikina choice, Jackson pointed toward two traits that are considered Monk’s weaknesses: size and defense. “The big thing we liked about (Ntilikina) is his size,” said Jackson, who was fired less than two weeks after the draft. “Our game is really about activity and one of the things we have to have is a defensive presence. And I thought last year we started to play better defense even though it wasn’t reflected in wins, or points scored against.”
Like Ntilikina, Monk did not participate in Summer League because of a minor injury and is itching to make his debut. He also wants to prove the doubters wrong, the Knicks included. “Time will tell,” Monk said. “They just got to see.”