The Detroit Pistons may look at a Greg Monroe trade along with Josh Smith this year at the trading deadline and teams like the Chicago Bulls, NY Knicks and LA Lakers could be interested, while Smith likely will be a target for the Sacramento Kings after the team fired Mike Malone, who was not on board with targeting Smith over the summer.
The Pistons and Kings have both been off to tough starts this season and now Malone has been fired according to ESPN.com and Yahoo Sports. The Yahoo report detailed some reasons why Malone was fired and one of the reasons cited was the fact that he did not approve the idea of trading for Smith this summer. ESPN.com reported that the Kings and Pistons were talking about a potential deal for Smith, as Sacramento wanted to add an offensive threat up front with DeMarcus Cousins.
The Pistons signed Monroe to a one year qualifying offer as a restricted free agent after not being able to work out a long term deal and now he could be a target at the deadline. Monroe has his eyes towards unrestricted free agency next summer and since he is on the qualifying offer he has the power to okay or keep himself from being traded, but with the way the Pistons have performed, he could be okay with moving on. Monroe may want to leverage a max deal next summer and that could be one reason why he stays, but either way the Pistons should get calls on him with where they are in the standings.
Smith should also be a target for teams at the deadline and one reason the Kings deal did not go down earlier was due to an agreement on the money and players involved. Smith has a decent sized contract after signing with the Pistons before last season and that is a tough deal to trade, as he has $40.5 million on the contract over three seasons. The Kings likely will explore a deal again, especially with Malone gone after being fired.
Monroe will be one of the top free agents on the market next summer and he should be in line for a max contract with his age and past health issues, which includes nothing major. Monroe has played basically a full schedule in each of the past two seasons and that is one reason why keep that on himself this year in signing a one-year deal.
Monroe was worried about signing a long-term deal in Detroit this summer with the new head coach and top executive coming in. The team has fallen off hard over the past few years and Monroe was reluctant to sign long-term as a restricted free agent. Monroe will be unrestricted next summer and while he said that Detroit is a possibility it's likely that he leaves the Pistons.
The Knicks are likely to target Marc Gasol on the free agent market next summer, but if he stays with the Grizzlies or signs elsewhere, New York could turn their attention to Monroe. The Boston Celtics are also a possibility for Monroe, as they have money to spend and are also expected to go after Gasol and could later chase the Pistons big man for the same reasons as the Knicks.
