Ex-Cat Monk can shoot the three, but can he be the No. 3 pick?

One week before NBA Draft night, Malik Monk worked out in Philadelphia for the 76ers on Thursday.

If the former University of Kentucky guard is starting to get nervous about when he might be chosen, he didn’t let it show during a post-workout interview with the media.

“Not yet,” Monk said. “I think I’m going to get nervous when I walk in with my suit on ready to go.”

Monk said he has put in individual workouts for four NBA teams: the Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks and Philadelphia. He has no more planned.

The Sixers hold the No. 3 pick, and speculation has surrounded their quest for a guard with long-range shooting skills like Monk’s.

Philadelphia drafted point forward Ben Simmons out of LSU with the No. 1 overall pick last year, but Simmons missed the entire season with a foot injury.

Now that he’s back, the Sixers would like to surround Simmons’ court vision and passing skills with some shooters.

“Ben is here. He’s a great passer. I can play on the ball, off the ball. I think they need a shooter like me. ... I think I’m a perfect fit,” Monk said.

Monk said he’s adapting to the NBA’s longer three-point distance.

“You just really have to have way more legs because it’s a lot further back,” he said.

Even though Monk is a proven shooter — he made nearly 40 percent of his three-pointers at UK — questions about his lack of height as an NBA shooting guard might prevent him from rising as high as No. 3 in the draft.

“People are always going to say what they want,” the 6-foot-4, 197-pound Monk said. “People said I couldn’t play off the ball when I went to Kentucky. I think I did a pretty good job with that. I just need to adjust and get in the weight room.”

Monk is projected as the No. 8 pick by DraftExpress.com. The New York Knicks hold the eighth pick. Of the other teams for whom Monk worked out, Orlando picks sixth and Phoenix fourth.

Sixers vice president of basketball administration Brandon Williams told the Philly Voice that the team knows Monk can shoot so it spent a lot of time during the workout on defense and pick-and-roll drills.

“We also wanted to see how creative he is with the dribble,” Williams said. “Watching Kentucky’s system, we know that he comes off pin-downs, he’s worked on the corners, he’s scored in transition, but could he do some things in tight spaces? We wanted to see him challenged by shot-blockers, we tried to simulate that a little bit.”

This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Ex-Cat Monk can shoot the three, but can he be the No. 3 pick?."