Greg Monroe to Bucks: Latest Contract Details, Comments and Reaction

Greg Monroe joined the Milwaukee Bucks after agreeing to a three-year contract with the team on July 2, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Wojnarowski reported the max deal was for $50 million with a player option for the final year.

The Bucks confirmed the deal on July 9.

Bleacher Report's Howard Beck explained the reasoning behind the structure of the contract:

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Monroe's agent, David Falk revealed his client's reason for choosing the Bucks, (via Ken Berger of CBS Sports): 

Monroe spent the first five years of his career with the Detroit Pistons and averaged a double-double for the first time last season. The power forward checked in at 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field. Aside from the slight uptick in boards, the numbers were right in line with his career averages.

It was a solid overall season from the Georgetown product, a campaign good enough to rank him 27th in the league in player efficiency rating, according to ESPN. The question is whether he can take that next step into the NBA's upper echelon.

He'll be just 25 when next season opens, so there's still time for him to continue developing, perhaps adding a bit more variety to his offensive game and being a little more aggressive defensively.

He'll join a young group in Milwaukee featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker, Michael Carter-Williams and Khris Middleton, who just agreed to a megadeal of his own, per Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.

After going 41-41 last season, Milwaukee is a rising team in the East on the cusp of turning a corner and ascending to become one of the top contenders in the conference.

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Monroe also swayed by Bucks' nucleus, and Jason Kidd's history of "making people around him better, both as a player and coach," Falk said.

— Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) July 2, 2015"

Monroe told Terry Foster of the Detroit News after last season ended that he was simply going to keep all of his options open until he had a chance to survey the market.

"I don't know why people have the notion or the thought that I am just out of here already, like it is one foot out the door," Monroe said. "At the end of the day, I am going to do what any free agent would do. I will listen to everybody and assess it."

That's exactly what he did.

The Pistons drafted Monroe with the seventh overall pick in 2010, but he decided it was time for his journey with the franchise to end.

Staying in Detroit would have been the safe route. He had created a nice tandem with Andre Drummond in the post. But this new opportunity gives him a fresh chance to prove he can in fact make further strides and hasn't leveled off.

There's always a period of transition when a player joins a new team. That's something to keep in mind if Monroe gets off to a sluggish start, especially since the pressure will be on as a high-profile free-agent signing.

He was good with the Pistons. Now it's his job to prove he can be great.