Well the drama and disappointment early in the NBA season that is known as the Detroit Pistons, has now taken a strange turn.
Monroe and the Pistons have been immersed in some drama including him turning down a contract extension and now have benched him in favor of Josh Smith and Andre Drummond starting inside and Kyle Singler getting the start at the small forward.
Pistons have been shopping one of their big men, more specifically, Greg Monroe, and they apparently swung for the fences recently in some talks with the Atlanta Hawks.
The following from Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News:
Monroe wanted out in the offseason, his first chance at testing the market. Experiencing four losing seasons, four coaches and two owners made him believe stability and winning weren’t very possible here, and the Pistons weren’t offering him a max contract to compensate, as unsuccessful franchises have to usually pay the “bad team” tax. …
Where the Pistons put themselves in this position was by not trading him. Although Monroe couldn’t get a max offer sheet from another team, he did receive substantial interest — and Portland and Atlanta tried to facilitate trades for him.
The Pistons wanted point guard Jeff Teague and sharpshooter Kyle Korver in return for Monroe, and the Hawks balked — perhaps with knowing Monroe could walk to them the summer of 2015, right into their cap space without having to part with valuable assets.
So it seems the Hawks avoided what could have been a dangerous deal. They’re hot right now, currently third in the East and they have won 12 of their last 14 games. They also have enough inside depth between starters Paul Millsap, Al Horford and coming the bench they have guys who can stretch the floor in Pero Antic, Mike Scott and Elton Brand.
I think the Hawks are just fine where they are but i do think something has to happen in Detroit. With Stan Van Gundy at the helm, a horrible 5-20 start might mean some changes are to be made.
Now, Monroe’s agent, David Falk, told Jeff Zillgett of the USA Today that Monroe wants to stay in Detroit, at least for now.
“He made a commitment to Stan (Van Gundy) when he took the qualifying offer that he would work as hard as he could and help the team as best that he could and he would keep his mind open and at the end of the season, he would evaluate all of his options,” Falk said. “That was his plan in July, and that’s his plan in December and that will probably be his plan in February and will be his plan when the season ends.”
This is getting messy in Motor City.
