Greg Monroe recently hit the free agency market and he immediately became the most coveted big man available. The Phoenix Suns bought out Monroe just a couple months after acquiring him earlier in the season from the Milwaukee Bucks as a part of the Eric Bledsoe trade.
Monroe was linked to his hometown New Orleans Pelicans and a few other playoff teams. But with an opportunity to win, get some valuable playing time and get a pretty nice payday for the remainder of the season plus the playoffs, it was kind of a no-brainer for Monroe to pick the Celtics.
Following comes from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Greg Monroe will sign with the Boston Celtics, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 2, 2018
Monroe will sign a one-year, $5M deal with Celtics, league sources tell ESPN. Pelicans could only offer $2.2M.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 2, 2018
New Orleans offered Monroe the chance to be the starting center, but Monroe will join the Celtics with fewer assurances on playing time.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 2, 2018
Boston now adds a valuable post scorer to an already deep roster who can both play with Al Horford and be the focus of a second unit for Boston. His defense isn’t always the greatest but playing alongside either Aron Baynes or Al Horford should help.