Lakers: Monroe, possibly available this offseason

[RsxPiimp]

Stan Van Gundy likes to run a one-in, four-out offense that requires a stretch four.

Good luck with that with the Pistons, whom officially announced Van Gundy’s hiring today.

Van Gundy inherits a team with two starting caliber power forwards – Greg Monroe and Josh Smith. Monroe doesn’t shoot from the perimeter, and Smith does. Both are problems, because neither can reliably make shots from there.

Personally, I’d rather have the player who doesn’t miss so many outside shots, but it’s complicated by their contract statuses. Smith is signed for three more years at $13.5 million per season, probably making him untradeable without a sweetener attached. Monroe will be a restricted free agent this summer, a legitimate candidate to receive a max contract.

What will Van Gundy do?

Sean Deveney of Sporting News:

Even before the Pistons made the bold move of hiring Stan Van Gundy to be their coach and run their basketball operations on Tuesday, there was a growing consensus around the league that whomever was tabbed to replace Joe Dumars in the front office would be willing to let restricted free agent Greg Monroe go.

Now, with Van Gundy in place on an eyebrow-raising contract—five years, $35 million—there is near certainty among league executives that Monroe has played his last game for Detroit



Obviously not a franchise altering big man, but I'm down for Greg Monroe. He'll be a solid 15 and 9 guy.

[RsxPiimp]

Smith, Monroe and Andre Drummond can’t play together. They had a full season to confirm that, and as good a coach as Van Gundy is, I think he could only limit the damage when those three share the court.

Of that trio, Drummond is by far the most valuable player. After that, I’d rank Monroe – even on a max deal – simply due to his age. Smith (28) is likely to have declined by the time Drummond (20) enters his peak, but Monroe (23) will have a career arc that more closely overlaps with Drummond’s. The Pistons should focus on maximizing their roster for Drummond’s prime years, when he could be one of the NBA’s top players.

Plus, Monroe is already about as good as Smith. Monroe averaged 15.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game last season, and although he doesn’t defend as well as Smith, he also doesn’t destroy the flow of the offense with as many forced shots and sloppy turnovers.

[Clipper Nation]

Chazz is about to hand out The Greg Monroe Max Contract

[RsxPiimp]

Chazz is about to hand out The Greg Monroe Max Contract

Oh god no but I think he'll get max $$$ anyway. His kind always commands top dollars.

[spurraider21]

its not like Josh Smith can be their stretch 4, he's an awful jump shooter too. still, he's infinitely better as a 4 than a SF

[Malik Hairston]

Josh Smith needs to play the 4 and you can't move him, they're stuck with him, tbh..I don't mind him as their starting PF, it's an interesting dynamic with Drummond..

Monroe is pretty overrated, tbh..good offensive player, horrid defensive player and soft, too..

[baseline bum]

Josh Smith needs to play the 4 and you can't move him, they're stuck with him, tbh..I don't mind him as their starting PF, it's an interesting dynamic with Drummond..

Monroe is pretty overrated, tbh..good offensive player, horrid defensive player and soft, too..

He can be everything Laker fan said MVPau was

[spurraider21]

He can be everything Laker fan said MVPau was

a scapegoat that is perpetually on the trade block?

[spurraider21]

Josh Smith needs to play the 4 and you can't move him, they're stuck with him, tbh..I don't mind him as their starting PF, it's an interesting dynamic with Drummond..

Monroe is pretty overrated, tbh..good offensive player, horrid defensive player and soft, too..

yeah pretty spot on. in the monroe thread during the deadline i think we were in agreement that greg has no place on the pistons. josh smith is one of the worst jump shooters in the NBA. he was already taking too many jumpers as a power forward on the hawks, and making him a full time SF was just a horrible decision, unless they knew all along they'd be letting monroe walk and had long term plans of smoove at the 4. SVG better not have delusions of Josh Smith as as stretch 4 though. give him a 15 foot limit on how far he can shoot from tbh

[StrengthAndHonor]

Lakers don't have a lot of options, acquiring Bledsoe and Monroe (not sure if that works cap wise) would instantly give the Lakers a much needed jolt. Obviously, theyre still light years away from contending even if Kobe comes back to form, but they should salvage any decent talent they can get to start their rebuilding process. They shouldn't take this offseason for granted by hauling multiple short term deals.

[spurraider21]

Bledsoe would be a good start, not fond of Monroe based on the contract he's expected to demand. Bledsoe is far from perfect, but he's definitely a "me" kind of guy, and the Lakers can offering him a glamour team and tell him that its his team in the future.

[baseline bum]

LOL if the Lakers overpay Bledsoe.

[spurraider21]

LOL if the Lakers overpay Bledsoe.

is he expected to sniff max money?

[StrengthAndHonor]

LOL if the Lakers overpay Bledsoe.

Everyone overpays nowadays, that's how the market is dictated. The number of undeserving contracts continually rises. You just have to hope your asset doesn't break in half every year (Nash, now Kobe)

[Franklin]

Dude's defense is ty though, I'd rather have TC back for the same price.

[whitemamba]

Josh Smith is overrated as imho. I like Monroe though, hes got a good future.

[RsxPiimp]

Monroe is a nice third or 4th piece. You can't get a much better big man in FA.

[Dverde]

They need to move Monroe now...Sign and Trade. No one is going to take Smith on his current deal. Drummond is the better player long term. Suns, Lakers, Mavs?

[Seventyniner]

SVG wants to play one-in four-out, went to a team that plays three-in two-out

If the Pistons are willing to pay $7M per year for a coach/president, watch them offer Chip Engelland $2M to fix Josh Smith's jumper. A good psychiatrist or hypnotist wouldn't be too expensive either.

[spurraider21]

Dude's defense is ty though, I'd rather have TC back for the same price.

let go of the past. chandler did good for you guys, but its time to move on, look to rebuild

[m>s]

make it happen cuban

[Franklin]

Dude is grossly overrated imho. He's fine as an offensive option but you'd have to count on Dirk to play defense if he became the Mavs starting C. I'd rather have Hibbert in Dallas regardless of how bad he sucks in the playoffs this year.