The 76ers' predraft workout process is about to get even more interesting.
The team is scheduled to work out Malik Monk on Thursday after weeks of looking mostly at projected late-second-round picks and free agents. The former Kentucky shooting guard will be the only draft prospect at an afternoon workout.
Then the team will work out Monk's former Wildcats teammate De'Aaron Fox this weekend, tentatively set for Saturday, a league source said Tuesday. This will be the Sixers' second time working out Fox. They put him through the paces on the road a couple of weeks ago in an agent-run workout, according to the source.
Fox and Monk are two players the Sixers are considering when they make the third overall pick in the June 22 draft.
Former Villanova standouts Josh Hart and Darryl Reynolds will be among six players working out for the Sixers' on Thursday morning. They will be joined by forward Dillon Brooks (Oregon), guard Dylan Ennis (Oregon and formerly of 'Nova), guard Jack Gibbs (Davidson), and French forward Tidjan Keita.
According to another league source, swingman Davon Reed (Miami) will work out for the Sixers on Friday. But Monk and Fox will have the workouts that draw the most interest.
Fox is athletic and explosive and is a good on-the-ball defender. The point guard averaged 16.7 points, 4.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in his lone season at Kentucky.
One of his best games came against UCLA and former Bruins point guard Lonzo Ball in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-3, 170-pounder finished the game with a career-high 39 points and four assists in an 86-75 victory. He held Ball to 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting and eight assists.
Ball has been projected by several analysts as the second-best point guard of the draft class, behind Washington's Markelle Fultz. Several mock drafts have him going second to the Los Angeles Lakers, who worked out Fox on Tuesday.
Monk is regarded as one of the best shooters in the draft. He averaged 19.8 points and shot 39.7 percent on 3-pointers in his lone season at Kentucky.
At 6-3, Monk is considered undersized for his position by NBA standards. That could present a matchup problem on defense. But he scored 20 or more points in 19 of the Wildcats' 38 games. His highlight was a 47-point effort in a 103-100 victory over eventual national champion North Carolina on Dec. 17. He made 8 of 12 3-pointers that game.
