Did a Sixth Man of the Year candidate imply he's joining Houston Rockets?

Social media has changed the dynamics of the sports industry.

That's no surprise - social media has changed everything. It's changed sports, and it's also changed sports media.

Sometimes, players leave clues about their future on social media. Other times, their cryptic messages end up being meaningless.

Did Malik Monk just imply that he's joining the Houston Rockets?

Is Monk heading to Houston Rockets?

That's interesting. Let's break it down.

Monk could simply be suggesting that he's about to have (another) career year. The suggestion that he's about to "take off" could simply be a colloquialism. It's possible that Monk didn't consider that a rocket, while an object that's prone to projectile, is also symbolic of an NBA team.

At the same time, planes take off. Pilots take off. Monk knows that the Houston Rockets are a team. Moreover, his use of two rocket emojis suggests some deliberateness.

We're not sure what to make of it, but it feels like Monk, a free agent, may have purposely implied he's heading to the Rockets.

Would adding him be a sensible decision for the team?

Houston Rockets could have an interest in Monk

As it stands, the Rockets don't have enough cap space to accommodate Monk. They have access to the Mid-Level Exception (MLE). Surely, Monk will command more than that.

At the same time, the Kings could be interested in a sign-and-trade. When a team is losing a free agent, they usually don't receive much value in those arrangements. Jae'Sean Tate and Jock Landale are both on flexible, team-friendly contracts. That could be enough to pry Monk from Sacramento.

If so, Monk could be a smart acquisition for Houston. We know he won't mind backing Jalen Green up - Monk just finished as the runner-up for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award. That is evidently a role he's comfortable in.

Last year, Monk had his best NBA season. His playmaking leap was impressive - Monk's 5.1 assists per game were by far a career-high. He did shoot an underwhelming 35.0% on his 5.9 three-point attempts per game, but Monk's reputation as a dangerous shooter forces defenses to close out aggressively on him. He'd be a sensible addition to a Rockets team in need of floor spacing:

Unless his social media post didn't have any meaning.