Sacramento Kings offseason: Is Malik Monk leaving? Salary cap, free agency and NBA draft

Kings general manager Monte McNair must find a way to improve the roster after the team failed to achieve its goals this season, but that might be difficult for a number of reasons.

Sacramento’s season ended with a 105-98 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans in a play-in elimination game Friday at Smoothie King Center. The Kings finished ninth in the Western Conference and failed to reach the playoffs a year after securing the No. 3 seed to end a 16-year playoff drought.

The franchise now faces some serious questions going into the offseason. Malik Monk is entering unrestricted free agency, salary cap constraints will prevent the Kings from signing a top free agent, and missing the playoffs hinders their ability to trade future first-round draft picks under provisions of the 2022 Kevin Huerter trade.

The Kings need more size, length and athleticism, but the most immediate concern is the uncertain future of Monk, who came to Sacramento in 2022 on a two-year, $19.4 million contract. The 26-year-old guard is a Sixth Man of the Year finalist after averaging career highs of 15.4 points and 5.1 assists. The Kings can offer him about $78 million over four years using his early Bird rights, but he could command upwards of $20 million per year from other teams that are free to offer more money.

Monk will be asked about his future when players are made available to the media for exit interviews Monday at Golden 1 Center.

Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox talked about Monk’s time in Sacramento in the past tense following Friday’s loss to the Pelicans.

“Obviously, I think he was extremely big for us,” said Fox, Monk’s childhood friend and former Kentucky teammate. “People that watched us play know that he should be Sixth Man of the Year. But at the end of the day, this is a business, and I feel like what he gave to us in his two years that he has been here, I feel like he showed his value, what he can do for a team.

“I’m happy for him regardless if he’s with us or if he isn’t. He knows that. But at the end of the day, this is a business. You can only play basketball for so long.”

Backup centers Alex Len and JaVale McGee will also be unrestricted free agents this summer.

Sacramento has 11 players under contract for the 2024-25 season with salaries totaling about $151.5 million. The salary cap is projected at $141 million.

The only spending tools the Kings will have at their disposal are the mid-level exception, biannual exception and minimum contracts. The standard mid-level exception is projected at $12,859,000. The biannual exception is projected at $4,681,000.

Missing the playoffs means the Kings will be back in the NBA draft lottery. The lottery will be held May 12. The draft is set for June 26-27 with a new two-day format.

The Kings expected to convey this year’s first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks as part of the Huerter trade. However, the pick is lottery protected this year, top-12 protected in 2025 and top-10 protected in 2026 before it turns into two second-round picks.

The Stepien rule prohibits teams from trading first-round picks in consecutive drafts, so the Kings cannot trade their first-round picks until the pick from the Huerter trade is conveyed to Atlanta.