Hornets reassign ex-Cat Monk to bolster playing time before midweek game

The Charlotte Hornets are sending former University of Kentucky guard Malik Monk to the team’s G-League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, in order to get the rookie some playing time, the Charlotte Observer reported on Sunday.

Monk played at least 17 minutes in each of his first 12 games with the Hornets but totaled just 39 minutes combined in his last six appearances. In his lone college season with Kentucky, Monk averaged 19.8 points and 2.2 assists per game, hitting 39.7 percent of his three-point attempts. After his freshman season with the Cats, he was the 11th overall pick in June’s NBA Draft.

The News & Observer reported it’s likely that Monk and fellow rookie Dwayne Bacon, who is also being sent to Greensboro, will play in the Swarm’s home game against the Wisconsin Herd at 1 p.m. Tuesday then be recalled in time for the Hornets’ home game against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. Such short-term roster moves between NBA teams and their G-League affiliates have become fairly common, as G-League squads tend to be located geographically close to their parent teams. Charlotte and Greensboro are separated by about an hour-and-a-half drive.

So far this season with Charlotte, Monk is averaging 5.9 points and 1.5 assists per game and is shooting 34.3 percent from behind the arc.

This story was originally published December 25, 2017 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Hornets reassign ex-Cat Monk to bolster playing time before midweek game."