The Sacramento Kings ruled out Malik Monk, Dylan Cardwell and Maxime Raynaud for their final preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs on October 16, keeping Monk sidelined again as the team closed out exhibition play at 5:00 PM PST.
For readers searching Kings vs Spurs now, the point is not the matchup itself so much as what the availability report says about the Kings’ last chance to evaluate their rotation. Monk was listed out with left ankle soreness, while Cardwell and Raynaud also missed the game, leaving Sacramento without three players it had hoped to see before the regular season begins.
James Ham reported that Monk has been dealing with the ankle issue through training camp and the preseason, and a league source said he has been working with the medical team to get back to game action. That same source said Monk’s opening night availability will depend on how the ankle responds over the next few days. In plain terms, the Kings are not treating this as a one-game absence; they are managing a problem that has followed him for weeks.
The rest of the picture is harder to read because the Kings did not get the clean final look they wanted. Domantas Sabonis played just over 10 minutes in the preseason, and he looked great next to Darius Acuff Jr. in that short stretch, but Monk’s absence means Sacramento still does not have a full read on how its guards and frontcourt pieces fit together when the games start to count.
That is what makes this update more than a routine preseason note. Monk’s status has been unclear because few details have been offered about the injury, and his recent track record suggests the Kings may have to keep adjusting if the ankle does not settle quickly. The immediate question is not whether he can play in October 16’s finale — he could not — but whether a few more days are enough to make opening night feel realistic.
