Brandon Jennings’ interesting take on why Malik Monk is better than Donovan Mitchell

Former NBA guard Brandon Jennings shared an interesting take when comparing Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell.

“I’m looking at certain people that’s in that draft class, and you got guys like Malik Monk,” Jennings said. “I think Malik Monk is a better player than Donovan Mitchell. Just off the fact – if you look at the stats – Malik Monk is averaging 15 points and five assists, and he’s only getting about 26 minutes. So, if he averaged 34 minutes, what the hell you think he would be averaging in his numbers?”

It’s certainly an interesting take by Jennings, who seems to think that Monk would thrive in a bigger role – if it were presented to him – and surpass Mitchell’s production.

Luckily, there is a way to extrapolate numbers by using per 36 minutes stats to test a theory like the one Jennings has.

In Mitchell’s case, he averaged 27.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per 36 minutes during the 2023-24 regular season. As for Monk, he recorded 21.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.1 assists per 36 minutes.

Comparing per 36 minutes stats is a good way to compare Monk and Mitchell, and Mitchell still clears the Kings guard in both rebounding and scoring.

This season, Mitchell appeared in 55 games for the Cavs and averaged 26.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from beyond the arc.

While Monk plays a smaller role off the bench for the Kings, he wasn’t nearly as efficient from the field (44.3 percent) or from 3 (35.0 percent). For their careers, Mitchell averages more points, rebounds and assists per game while shooting a higher percentage from the field and beyond the arc.

It seems like Jennings is really discrediting all that Mitchell has accomplished. Mitchell has been a top scoring option on his team since he entered the league as a rookie in the 2017-18 season. Mitchell has never finished a season averaging less than 20 points per game.

Plus, Mitchell has earned five All-Star nods and one All-NBA nod in his first seven NBA seasons. Monk has not earned a single All-Star nod.

While both players have been in different situations during their NBA careers, Jennings seems to be discounting a lot of the impressive play that Mitchell has put together during his career.

Monk, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, could find himself on a new team with a bigger role in the 2024-25 season. However, until he proves he can put up numbers like Mitchell has as a lead option for a whole season, it’s hard to understand why Jennings believes he is the better player between the two.