6 Teams That Should Monitor Greg Monroe's 2014-15 Season Very Carefully
Isn't the 2014-15 season just an audition for Greg Monroe?
After taking a non-conventional route this past offseason and agreeing to a qualifying offer with the Detroit Pistons, Monroe gets to play out the year and then hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent. It's a luxury he wouldn't have enjoyed had he either inked an offer sheet or re-signed with the Pistons during the summer.
Now the past is almost irrelevant, and he's playing to prove himself to a list of suitors next summer—a list that might not actually be as large as some might thing.
Monroe is an intriguing player in the current NBA simply because he doesn't fit into every organization's plans. With the league trending toward athletic centers, small ball and non-traditional sets, there aren't an abundance of opportunities for an old-school big man who would prefer to play with his back to the basket and thrive on his fundamental excellence.
Nevertheless, there are still some franchises that will be closely monitoring his play throughout the year, attempting to figure out whether he can fit into their future plans.
Boston Celtics
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For the last few years, the Boston Celtics have had trouble finding an established center who's worth starting night-in and night-out. Kelly Olynyk hasn't been able to live up to his draft slot—not yet, at least—and Jared Sullinger is best suited to playing the 4 given his ability to contribute in a variety of ways.
According to 82games.com, the center position was easily the weakest during Boston's 2013-14 campaign; that's not likely to change anytime soon.
All five positions allowed player efficiency ratings that were worse than the ones they produced, but the 5-spot's net PER was a putrid minus-3.8. Second-worst was point guard, thanks to Rajon Rondo's extended absence, but it was still 1.6 better.
But Monroe could be the starting center of the future, ushering in the next era of playoff basketball in Beantown and changing the fortunes of the position. It might require letting Rajon Rondo walk or dealing him before this season's trade deadline, but the C's could conceivably waltz into the 2015-16 season with a starting five comprised of Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, Sullinger and Monroe.
That's eerily reminiscent of a playoff lineup, especially in the weaker Eastern Conference.
Boston should have the financial means necessary to land a high-caliber free agent like Monroe next summer even if he thrives under Stan Van Gundy during the 2014-15 season. A max contract shouldn't be a deterrent with the television deal leading to cap increases down the road. Plus, given his ability to shore up a position of need for a rebuilding squad, it's a price well worth paying for the man they call "Moose."
Detroit Pistons
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Of course the Detroit Pistons should monitor Greg Monroe closely.
Though his qualifying offer makes it more likely that he plays the 2014-15 season at a discount before spurning Motor City for a new location, there's still a decent chance he could stay with his current stomping grounds. After all, the Pistons will be able to offer him a longer and larger contract than any other franchise in the Association, and money does tend to talk.
Thus far, Stan Van Gundy seems to be handling Monroe properly, intending to bring him off the bench while Andre Drummond and Josh Smith are on the floor for the opening tip. It's by no means a demotion, as his positional versatility allows for him to be mixed and matched with the other two bigs. Monroe will still end up playing around 30 minutes per game, even if he's on the pine when the game begins.
Again, it's not a demotion.
Monroe himself seems keenly aware of that, based on a statement made to reporters during the early portion of the preseason:
"I don't have to handle it, I just have to play. That's not going to change, whether I start or whether I come off the bench, that's not going to change the way I play. So, you guys might worry about it, but all I'm focused on is being on the court. If you have questions about that, you're going to have to ask [Van Gundy], he makes the decisions. But other than that, I'm just going to play.
"
And play he will.
If Monroe thrives in his role with Detroit—whether he's coming off the bench or starting—and helps steer his team into the postseason, it'll be much more difficult for him to leave. After all, it's a safe bet that an undefined role and a disappointing season played strongly into his restricted-free-agency ventures.
Los Angeles Lakers
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"If they are unable to land Anthony or James, the Lakers are also expected to have a strong interest in Washington free-agent forward Trevor Ariza, Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, Detroit center Greg Monroe and Phoenix forward Channing Frye, according to sources," Ramona Shelburne reported this offseason for ESPN Los Angeles.
Well, the Los Angeles Lakers didn't get any of them. Carmelo Anthony, Lowry and Monroe all stayed with their teams, while LeBron James returned home to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Ariza left the nation's capital for the Houston Rockets and Frye joined the Orlando Magic.
Only one of those aforementioned players will be on the market again in 2015, and I bet you can all guess which one I'm referring to.
Yep. Monroe.
The big man should still be a primary target next summer, as he's a perfect fit for Byron Scott's, umm, traditional offense. He won't focus on stretching the court with jumpers but will instead go to work with his back to the basket and help others get to the rim with his adept passing out of the blocks and high elbows.
Even after Julius Randle's devastating leg fracture on the first night of his professional career, the Lakers do admittedly have plenty of frontcourt talent on the roster. Carlos Boozer still has something left in the tank (though it remains to be seen what that something is), and the combination of Jordan Hill and Ed Davis has plenty of upside.
But is there a true center among that bunch? Is there a player who's an established All-Star-caliber contributor when he's in the right situation?
There would be if Monroe came to town.
New York Knicks
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Phil Jackson is going to have tons of money at his disposal during the 2015 offseason once plenty of egregious contracts come off the books. The plan has always been to chase one of the bigger names, and Greg Monroe would fit in quite nicely with the team's current strategy.
New head coach Derek Fisher is attempting to install the infamous triangle offense within the friendly confines of Madison Square Gaden, but as Shaquille O'Neal explained, it's a system that usually requires two superstars.
"For the triangle to work, you need to have two superstars," the legendary big man posited, via Mitch Lawrence of NBC New York "It's been proven over time. Look at what Phil needed to win his championships in Chicago. Then look what he had in L.A., with me and Kobe. You have to have two superstars playing in the triangle to win championships."
Carmelo Anthony counts as one, but the Knicks still have to find a second option.
"One of the things that makes the triangle tough is, pretty much besides the center, every other piece is interchangeable," an anonymous Western Conference scout told Jonathan Abrams back in 2009 in a piece for The New York Times. The center typically operates from the block in the base set, and while he can shift around, a solid interior game is so crucial to the offense's success.
That's what makes Monroe and his Georgetown pedigree so ideal. Not only is he a capable scorer with his back to the basket, but he has the passing chops necessary to keep the ball moving and hit cutters and spot-up shooters in the right locations. In some ways, he's a perfect fit, assuming that the desire to run the geometric set sticks.
"As I said last week, I think Marc Gasol would be perfect for New York," Alex Kennedy wrote during a Basketball Insiders chat. "He'd help them on both ends of the floor, and it seems like he'd be perfect in the triangle offense. Monroe would be interesting too since he's very skilled. Next summer is going to be very interesting for the Knicks."
Gasol may end up being New York's primary target, but monitoring Monroe as a secondary option is key throughout the first full season of the Jackson and Fisher era.
Phoenix Suns
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The Phoenix Suns are still searching for that low-post presence.
All of the offensive firepower on this squad comes from the guards, as Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas are primed to form quite the three-headed monster down in the desert. And beyond that, Tyler Ennis will be waiting for an opportunity, while Zoran Dragic and Gerald Green are both set to thrive at shooting guard.
Even the forwards on the roster—namely the Morris twins, Anthony Tolliver and T.J. Warren—are more adept at spotting up from the perimeter or creating their own face-up opportunities. There just aren't any old-school post-up players on whom the team can rely for offense.
But what if that changed?
The Suns could be even deadlier with some variety in their offensive schemes, which could be achieved by signing Monroe during the offseason. That might require letting Goran Dragic escape to a new location, but there are still enough point guards on the roster for that to be a relatively easy blow to absorb.
During this past summer, Phoenix was rumored to be considering extending a deal to Monroe according to the Huffington Post's Jordan Schultz, but nothing came of it. Rather than signing an offer sheet with general manager Ryan McDonough, he instead took the qualifying offer. But by doing so, he's giving the Suns another shot.
If the trio of point guards don't get the Suns into the playoffs in this brutal Western Conference, it could be time for the franchise to reverse course. Perhaps next time, it'll actually extend that offer. And how much of a reversal would it be?
Well, let's just put it this way: NBA.com's statistical databases show that Monroe scored 72.2 percent of his points in the paint during the 2013-14 season. Even with the guards constantly driving into the lane, only 40.1 percent of the Suns' points came from that same location, which was right in the middle of the pack when compared to the NBA's other 29 squads.
San Antonio Spurs
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Hard as it may be to believe, the San Antonio Spurs are eventually going to be forced into replacing the basketball robot known as Tim Duncan. Old age may not affect his performance, but rust and mechanical malfunctioning will at some point.
He's now on the final year of his contract, and while there's always a chance he could re-sign with the organization, it's hard not to think this is his last go-round in the Association. Pomp and circumstance doesn't mesh with Duncan, so it won't be treated like a Derek Jeter swan song, but this season could easily be his very last.
And that means the Spurs will have some money to spend next offseason, as well as a gaping hole to fill in the frontcourt.
From there, it's not hard to connect the dots.
Monroe is nowhere near as good as Duncan has been, but he's still the type of big man who would thrive in that vaunted San Antonio system. He's a skilled and unselfish player, one who can make contributions on both ends (even if he thrives on offense) and play interchangeably with Tiago Splitter at the center and power forward positions.
Eventually, the current era will end in San Antonio.
It's tough to think of a non-incumbent player on the 2015 open market who would be a better fit for the transitional period that will follow the conclusion of Duncan's career.
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