The Detroit Pistons and Greg Monroe have not been able to come to an agreement and now the restricted free agent could get moved in a trade, as reports had the Indiana Pacers a potential destination for Roy Hibbert if he is traded and this comes after the Paul George injury and numerous attempts by the Pistons to trade Josh Smith to the Sacramento Kings.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, Monroe and the Pistons have not yet been able to agree on a contract and this comes as Monroe is a restricted free agent with the ability to sign a qualifying offer, which would make him a UFA next year. Monroe and the team have been going back and forth and recent reports have the Indiana Pacers a potential option for Roy Hibbert and that comes after the team lost Paul George for the season. The Washington Post reported that Monroe's agent has looked for trades, but did not try and get an offer sheet from any other teams.
There were reports that Monroe had received a five-year, $60 million deal offer from the Pistons, but his agent denied that claim. Monroe wants to stay in Detroit, but he is not sure if the team is going to be good soon and that is a factor, as he is unsure of signing up for five or four more years if it's going to be more losing. Having Stan Van Gundy running things is good, but Monroe realizes that last season himself, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith were in each other's way quite a bit.
Drummond is 20 and is a budding star and that means he is not going anywhere and if it were up to SVG, he would likely build around Drummond and Monroe. According to ESPN.com, the Pistons and the Kings spoke about a Smith trade and it likely would have included Derrick Williams, but no trade ended up going down. The team owes Smith a ton of money over the next three years at over $40 million and that is one reason why it has been tough to move him.
Smith is getting paid $13.5 million per season and that is quite a bit and that is one of the issues with the Monroe negotiations. The three players in Monroe, Smith and Drummond step on each other's toes a bit and the team wants to find a way to break that up. Monroe is a budding star himself after averaging 15.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and he is just 23 years old, while smith is 28 and a quick shooter. Monroe could sign a qualifying offer of $5,479,934 to be a free agent next summer and some reports say he is considering that option.
The Pistons added Jodie Meeks and Caron Butler and Stan Van Gundy feels that the team has potential with young players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on the roster. Monroe may want a trade back to where he played college to the Washington Wizards and other teams like the Knicks and Lakers also could be interested. Monroe may end up as a UFA next summer and he will be battling with LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol for contract attention.
