Detroit Pistons Rumors: Greg Monroe Trade Off If Josh Smith Traded To Sacramento Kings?

The Detroit Pistons likely will not look to trade Greg Monroe this season if they can trade Josh Smith to the Sacramento Kings, as he could sign with the team long term next summer if Smith is out of the way and this comes after the Pistons and Kings had discussions earlier this offseason about a potential trade for the forward.

The Pistons are coming into the season with a new head coach and exec with Stan Van Gundy as president of basketball operations and he takes over for Joe Dumars. Greg Monroe was a restricted free agent and after years of the team being horrible, he opted for a one year deal and now he will be a free agent again next summer. Dumars signed Smith to the high priced contract and now SVG has made it clear he wants to build around Andre Drummond and Monroe, who are two of the best young bigs in the league. Monroe is young and has been very healthy through his career and he is essentially betting on himself to make it to the market next summer.

According to Pro Basketball Talk, Monroe said that he has not ruled out a return to the Pistons next summer, but that he wants to see what direction the team is headed in. The Knicks, Lakers, Celtics and Bulls all could be in the mix for Monroe next summer and he has the ability to block trades after taking the one year qualifying offer over a long term deal this summer.

ESPN.com reported over the summer that the Kings and the Pistons spoke about a deal for Smith, but they never moved close to pulling off the trade. The Kings see Smith as a solid offensive option up front with DeMarcus Cousins and they feel the combo of those two can help turn the team around. The Kings drafted Nik Stauskas and they think he can be a strong offensive player and adding someone like Smith could take some pressure off of Cousins.