We may have underestimated how low Greg Monroe’s trade value actually is.
It widely known that the Milwaukee Bucks have been trying to move him for about a year. That he remains with the team, in an inconsistent role, seemed to be evidence that Milwaukee was asking for too much in exchange for his services.
As it turns out, according to Basketball Insiders’ Steve Kyler, that’s not the case at all:
The Milwaukee Bucks and Greg Monroe have not been a very good pairing. Monroe is now a fixture on the Bucks’ bench, and that does not look to be changing anytime soon.
The Bucks tried pretty aggressively to find a trade for Monroe last year, and all through the offseason it was said the Bucks were not looking for much for Monroe, hoping to free up the cap space and a roster spot.
The problem for the Bucks, and to a certain extent for Monroe, is that his contract is a tough one to move.
Monroe, as Kyler notes, would be more valuable as a trade chip if he was going to decline his $17.9 million player option for next season. But with the market for old-school bigs who don’t protect the rim or shoot threes at an all-time low itself, it’s not entirely clear whether he’ll do that. And if the Bucks knew he was going to, they would be better off holding on to him and letting that money wash off their own books.
Plus, trading away Monroe’s $17.1 million cap hit will entail Milwaukee taking back ample salary. The Denver Nuggets, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers are the only teams that can absorb him outright, and one of them have a real need for him.
Dealing Monroe, then, only makes sense if the Bucks are receiving an expiring contract to match his and/or getting a pick or prospect they view was a valuable long-term piece. There may not be a deal out there that satisfies any, let alone all, of those requirements.
The New Orleans Pelicans can dangle Tyreke Evans’ expiring deal, but are the Bucks really that low on Monroe? The Nets could try to offer Brook Lopez in exchange for Rashad Vaughn, a pick and Monroe, but are the Bucks willing to give up that much for Lopez? Better yet, are the Nets willing to accept that little, when Monroe has been such a letdown, for their All-Star big man?
This is all such a mess, and the eventual resolution is impossible to predict. All we can do is wait and see whether Monroe is in Milwaukee after the February trade deadline.
