Unconventional Woj bomb incoming.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports was interviewed by blogger Aime Mukendi Jr. while at coach Mark Schmidt’s summer camp at St. Bonaventure. During the interview—which was pointed out to us by Hawks Hoops’ Buddy Grizzard and can be listened to here—Woj, well, he Woj-bombed all over the place about Greg Monroe’s displeasure with playing for the Detroit Pistons.
From Grizzard:
Detroit has tried to help [Monroe] with some sign and trade possibilities around the league. Monroe doesn’t really have a great interest in going back and playing with the Pistons. If they’re going to move him in a sign-and-trade, they’ve got to get value for him. They’ve got to get back some significant talent to compensate for that loss. They haven’t been able to find a deal for him.
…
They’ve talked with Atlanta, I believe they talked with Phoenix for a while. Portland had some interest early on, but those teams moved on. They could have signed Monroe to an offer sheet but Detroit would have likely matched it.
Hopefully Monroe warms up to Detroit’s rebuilding plan, because he isn’t likely going anywhere.
If he really wanted to leave the Pistons, not signing an offer sheet at first was the way to go. Coach and president Stan Van Gundy would have matched the deal in a heartbeat and Monroe would have been stuck.
Pursuing a sign-and-trade was smarter, as he’s more likely to get what he wants. But the market has cooled and funds and interest have apparently dried up. That the Pistons couldn’t hammer out a sign-and-trade with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns or Portland Trail Blazers, speaks to the underwhelming offers, or Detroit’s insanely high asking price.
Whatever the case, it’s unlikely Monroe goes anywhere. He won’t field a lucrative offer sheet with most teams now barren of cap space. In the event teams have cap space, they’re the Philadelphia 76ers, who are, shall we say, not trying to win any games (fine, they’re tanking their asses off again). And if teams have also moved on from sign-and-trade possibilities, Monroe better get comfortable.
Lack of outside interest could force him to sign a long-term deal with the Pistons. Or he could sign a shorter one and hope to explore unrestricted free agency very, very soon. It’s a risk, of course, but if he’s really turned off by the Pistons and the idea of playing alongside the space-killing Josh Smith, it’s the only choice that affords him somewhat imminent flexibility.
The alternative has Monroe doomed to remain with the Pistons for the next half-decade or so. And so long as they’re forced to run with J-Smoove at small forward, they won’t be as effective as they can be. Trading Smoove is the only way they open things up for Monroe and their offense.
Well that, or they could let Monroe walk. Or they could trade him.
Both courses of action are possible.
Both, at this point, are also unlikely.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
