Free agent Greg Monroe says he will meet with five teams this week
Detroit Pistons forward Greg Monroe says he will meet with five teams this week as he determines who he will play for next season.
Monroe, an unrestricted free agent, says that he will meet with the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers, as those teams have shown the most interest in the 25-year-old.
Free agency starts on Wednesday and players can start signing new contracts on July 9.
“I’m looking to be with a team that’s ready to win,” Monroe toldTheAdvocate. “Hopefully it will be a team where I’m the missing piece.”
One team that hasn’t shown interest is the New Orleans Pelicans. Monroe played his high school ball in Harvey, La., before playing college basketball at Georgetown.
“I’d love to play and represent this city,” he said, according to TheAdvocate. “Obviously, they have a guy like Anthony Davis who is a superstar already, and he’s only going to get better. I think I could really play well with him. Our games complement each other. I’m a low-post scorer. Obviously he’s a great midrange player.”
Monroe said he respects the Pistons' plans to build their roster around a big center like Andre Drummond.
“Stan had smaller teams in Orlando (Magic) years ago,” Monroe said. “Dre is like Dwight Howard. So Stan wants to put good players around him. The team has different plans, and I respect that. I don’t want to be anywhere I’m not wanted.”
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Monroe says he is “looking at a two-year deal plus an option” to take advantage of the NBA’s nine-year, $24 billion television contract that will start before the 2016–17 season. That deal is expected to raise the salary cap to near $90 million for that season.
“[He and agent David Falk] are definitely looking at all our options,” Monroe said. “You can see the trend is everybody’s taking shorter deals right now. So, most likely, I might take that route, too, and when the new deal kicks in, get a longer-term contract."
Monroe has spent his entire five-year career with the Pistons, who have missed the playoffs in each of the past six seasons. He averaged 15.9 points and a career-high 10.2 rebounds per game last season.
- Scooby Axson
