Phoenix Suns wowed by Malik Monk's shooting range in workout

Scott Bordow | The Republic | azcentral.com

It didn’t take long for Kentucky shooting guard Malik Monk to make an impression on Suns executives when they took him out to dinner Monday night.

“You can tell there’s a confidence in his game,” Assistant General Manager Pat Connelly said.

Confidence? That doesn’t begin to describe Monk’s self-belief. After his solo workout for the Suns on Tuesday – which included running 25 laps in the team’s infamous three-minute sprint – this exchange occurred:

“What’s your shooting range?”

“I don’t have any,” Monk said, his smile wide. “As soon as I walk in the gym.”

So how does your range compare to Stephen Curry’s?

“Mine is further than his,” Monk replied.

OK.

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Confidence aside, it’s hard to see how Monk fits into the Suns’ plans with the No. 4 pick in the June 22 draft. At 6-feet-3, Monk is projected to play shooting guard and Phoenix already has that position well covered with Devin Booker. But there’s no telling what might happen on draft night and the Suns want to make sure they’ve talked to and worked out every player they like. Thus, Tuesday’s date with Monk.

Plus, as Connelly said, “You can’t ever have too much shooting.”

Suns assistant GM on Malik Monk's workout Pat Connelly discusses Malik Monk's shooting performance at the Kentucky guard's workout on June 6, 2017.

Monk, who averaged 19.8 points a game for Kentucky as a freshman and shot 39.7 percent from 3-point range, is considered by some to be the best pure shooter in the draft and he did nothing to dissuade that opinion during the workout. Connelly said it was “probably one of the better performances we’ve had in the last few years here shooting that deep ball.”

“He has one of those strokes that adjusts well to the deeper shot,” Connelly added. “He shoots it easy. Even when we were shooting shots behind the NBA 3 he still kind of had the same form and it went in a lot. … He naturally will adjust to that range with no issue.”

Connelly described Monk as a “shooter-scorer.”

“You don’t have to do a ton for him,” Connelly said. “He finds a way to put the ball in the bucket and gets it in spurts. He goes on these big scoring runs.”

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The questions about Monk concern his ability to handle the ball and play defense. He played off point guard De’Aaron Fox at Kentucky – Fox is expected to work out for the Suns later this week – but the Suns were encouraged by the fact he averaged 4.73 free-throw attempts per game despite his role as a spot-up shooter for the Wildcats.

“I think if you ask him he thinks he has some combo (guard) in him later,” Connelly said. “That’s something we wanted to see … He played with a great point guard last year in Fox so he obviously benefited from being set up. I think he wants to show he can do more than just shoot the ball.”

On defense, Monk believes he can cover point guards to small forwards but added, “I just got to get in the weight room and get ready for these grown men.”

Malik Monk runs 3-minute drill at Suns workout Watch Kentucky's Malik Monk runs the -3 minute drill at the end of his workout with the Suns on June 6, 2017.

Monk would fit right into the Suns, who already have four Kentucky guards – Booker, Eric Bledsoe, Tyler Ulis and Brandon Knight – on their roster. Monk said he exchanges text messages with Ulis every other day and with Booker at least once a week.

“It’s crazy all of them are here at once,” he said. “If I get here I’d be happy here.”

That might be a long shot, given Booker is entrenched at shooting guard and it’s expected the Suns either will draft a point guard or a small forward at No. 4. NBAdraft.net and draftexpress.com have Monk going to the New York Knicks with the No. 8 pick.

Not surprisingly, the ever-confident Monk believes he should go much higher.

“I feel like I’m the No. 1 player in the nation right now,” he said. “I’ve always been this way. I’m not going to change now.”

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Reach Bordow at scott.bordow@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/sBordow. He can be reached at 602-448-8716