Many thought Malik Monk could fit into the triangle offense, so the Knicks seemed like a perfect destination for him when Phil Jackson was still president. The fit worked out so perfectly that even Monk himself thought New York was the place to be.
In pre-draft meetings and workouts, everyone near Monk thought he was going to begin his NBA career in New York. Even his agent, the person that theoretically would have the best idea of where he's going to end up, thought New York would be the place. Then he was passed over.
"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."
"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."
The Knicks instead chose to go with Frank Ntilikina while Monk fell down to the Hornets at No. 11. This may work out for him after Jackson was removed by the Knicks a few weeks later and Monk wound up on a team in need of guard depth.
