Scouting Malik Monk’s potential fit with the Miami Heat
By Frank Urbina
Malik Monk is one of the best scorers in college basketball. How would he fit in with the Miami Heat?
Writing about Malik Monk’s fit with the Miami Heat would have been a whole lot easier two weeks ago. You know, before that out-of-nowhere nine-game winning streak that’s caught the basketball world by surprise.
During that span, the Heat are fourth in the league in net-rating, tied with the Golden State Warriors in defensive rating and, perhaps most surprising, first in the NBA in three-point percentage (at 41.7 percent). So talking about Monk, whose primary asset is his ability to score the basketball, and his fit with Miami’s roster, almost feels superfluous.
But maybe it isn’t. Monk is one of the best freshman scorers in college basketball history. (Not hyperbole.) He arrived in Kentucky with questions about his size for a shooting guard, his lack of point guard skills, and his three-point shooting. Thus far, he has quelled some of those concerns.
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According to Draft Express, Monk will go ninth overall to the Dallas Mavericks. And the Heat, thanks to all that great winning they’ve been doing, have an 87 percent chance of landing the tenth pick in the draft (via Tankathon). So as of now, there’s a chance Monk will be available when Miami is on the clock. I will hedge by saying Monk has been one of this draft’s risers, and could end up going higher on draft day.
The question is: Are the Heat interested? The team has a couple of combo guards in Josh Richardson and Tyler Johnson who fill similar roles. Goran Dragic is their point guard for the foreseeable future. Dion Waiters has been on a tear so fierce that fans are actually entertaining the possibility that he has turned the corner.
So why add Monk? Let’s break down his strengths and weaknesses, and surmise whether there is a potential fit between the two parties.