How much of an effect will winning have on Monroe to re-sign in Detroit ?

[Jackattaq]

I rarely start a thread but I really think this one could have some interesting view points. We all know that Greg Monroe took the QO to play this season in Detroit and that we have his bird rights and that's he's an UFA at the end of the season. I just want to get an idea what the fans of this board think will happen with GM at the end of the season. I don't think you have to look too hard into it to understand that Monroe wasn't happy with Smith here. Dumars brought in Smith and paid him handsomely to play the same position that GM plays. Monroe even went to the bench for a bit with all the tinkering since Smith's arrival. As Piston's fans we all know what GM is, he's not a superstar (despite what his numbers said last night in Dallas), but he is a very good basketball player that the Pistons have invested a lot of years into developing. He seems to be a good pairing with our franchise Center in Drummond and he seems to have good chemistry with the team. Watching GM sprint across the court after the win in SA was maybe the fastest I've seen him run on a basketball court. After that Jennings buzzer-beater Monroe was genuinely excited. I think Monroe is finally (since at least the Josh Smith signing or earlier due to losing) happier here in Detroit. I think he is starting to see the fruits of the SVG system paying off. He sat the 4th in SA, they won, He played like a man possessed in Dallas in the first and fourth quarters (while Andre sat in the 4th), they won. I think Monroe has to at least take into consideration that between him and Andre, they are the Pillars of the Paint for this team. I think he will and should consider his situation here now (since the Smith departure) as a positive and a place where he could potentially be an ALL-STAR. He is our main post-up threat. We run a lot of offensive sets and plays through Greg. He is the Pistons most talented post player. As long as he's a Piston, he will get the ball and get it often in the paint.

How much do you think this current win streak and current team play and offensive flow of the Pistons have on Greg Monroe's decision to re-sign as a Piston?

At the beginning of the season, I was 100% sure that he was gone, why else just sign the QO unless you want out, right? Now, I'm not so sure. It's almost like the team has new life and I see guys that are smiling and cheering and there is more of a college team enthusiasm out there. I don't see the stat-whoring or the selfishness that would lead me to believe that GM wants to just get his numbers to get a better offer from somewhere else over the summer. I am not sure what will happen with Greg Monroe at the end of this season, but I do think that he should and will consider staying now. I never got the sense before Josh Smith that Monroe wasn't happy here, he was our big man in the paint, our primary offensive option and he was happy with that. Now that we are winning and he can still fulfill that role, I have to believe that should weigh a lot on his decision.

What do you guys think ?

[MotownMadness]

Winning can change everything. Stan has done a great job at completing changing our image and morale over these last 7games. We can also offer him the most money, best coach and Andre Drummond. Personally I think he stays but that also depends on if we are willing to fork over a max. He doesnt really seem like a big city type of guy and LA or NY are a hot mess right now. I don't think Hes leaving.

[Spider156]

Give the man 13-14 million a year and I think he stays. I don't think he commands a max contract in the market but I also think someone might overpay for him. If we offer the same contract back, there's no reason for him not to return. I just wish this was his second last year on his contract rather than his QO year.

[Billl]

After our start, I thought he was 99% gone. If we really do make a run and make the playoffs, I think he probably stays. Of course, that assumes SVG opens the vault for him.

[DetroitSho]

I'm glad you started this thread because I've been wondering something about Greg and what his future salary implications are. Couple questions:
1. What is Greg's 4 year max with another team? I would really like a rough idea of what the yearly breakdown would be with Non-Bird raises.
2. What is his 5 year max here?
3. Here's the wildcard. If we gave Greg say 5 years $75 million (TOTALLY RANDOM), 5th year being a player option, how favorably would that compare with a 4 year max from another team in terms of how much he'd make in the 1st 4 years?

What I'm getting at is this, if he gets a max offer from another team, how far below the 5 year max could we offer to ensure he still makes somewhat the same amount of money within the 1st 4 years? That way he'd always have that option 5th year in his back pocket to cash in early on the 3rd contract if he's outproducing the 2nd one.

[The Penguin]

The Knicks are the only team that really worry me. New Orleans and Washington could hold some appeal due to his ties to those cities, but they don't have the space to make a play. I could see Phil falling in love with Monroe to be a key in his triangle with his passing. I really think Love is going to the Lakers, taking them out of play for Monroe.

The Spurs seem to be a wildcard. However there are rumors Kwahi wants a max and they aren't giving it to him. I could live with a Monroe for Kwahi S & T swap.

[DetroitSho]

The Knicks are the only team that really worry me. New Orleans and Washington could hold some appeal due to his ties to those cities, but they don't have the space to make a play. I could see Phil falling in love with Monroe to be a key in his triangle with his passing. I really think Love is going to the Lakers, taking them out of play for Monroe.

The Spurs seem to be a wildcard. However there are rumors Kwahi wants a max and they aren't giving it to him. I could live with a Monroe for Kwahi S & T swap.

Yeah and I can live with flat out maxing Kwahi and keeping Greg too.

[princeofpalace]

Greg choose not to sign with the team because he didn’t buy into SVG- all he saw was losing with Detroit and has never had consistent coaching, or ownership, and probably felt uneasy with a new GM in SVG. I also think Joe D a lot of damage to Monroe when he signed Smith because it was a vote of no confidence in Monroe. I think now that Smith is gone, and the team is winning, SVG is proving to be a good coach and solid GM, Monroe will feel a lot more comfortable resigning.

Also, assuming the cap rises to $68- there aren’t that many teams with the cap to land Greg. ATL wont have the $$ unless they renounce their best player- Paul Milsap, which is unlikely and no way Greg comes off the bench anyway. Portland doesn’t have money unless they renounce either Aldridge or Matthews- neither of which is likely. Dallas won’t renounce Chandler or Rondo so they don’t have the capspace. Toronto doesn’t have the $$ even if they renounce Amir (also unlikely) because they would have to sign alteast 6 more guys. Memphis has Randolph/Gasol cap holds so they don’t have cap unless they renounce those guys, which is also unlikely. The Magic have Vucevic at Center and young F in Gordon they are grooming at SF or PF. Spurs aren’t an option either unless Duncan and Manu retire- and both still have a lot left in the tank.

That leaves, the Celtics, Lakers, 6ers, and Knicks but Greg doesn’t want to lose and these franchises are in worse shape than we are. I think the odds are high that Greg comes back as long as we continue to win.

Ofcourse, sign and trades could be explored but that gives Pistons some leverage since we won't take back crap for him.

[rmfc]

The Knicks are the only team that really worry me. New Orleans and Washington could hold some appeal due to his ties to those cities, but they don't have the space to make a play. I could see Phil falling in love with Monroe to be a key in his triangle with his passing. I really think Love is going to the Lakers, taking them out of play for Monroe.

The Spurs seem to be a wildcard. However there are rumors Kwahi wants a max and they aren't giving it to him. I could live with a Monroe for Kwahi S & T swap.

Agree with everything in your post. Knicks/Lakers -- one of these 2 teams will definitely offer a MAX to Monroe (depending if their chances of landing Love/Marc Gasol). I think Kawhi stays in San Antonio but anything can happen.

[The Penguin]

The Knicks are the only team that really worry me. New Orleans and Washington could hold some appeal due to his ties to those cities, but they don't have the space to make a play. I could see Phil falling in love with Monroe to be a key in his triangle with his passing. I really think Love is going to the Lakers, taking them out of play for Monroe.

The Spurs seem to be a wildcard. However there are rumors Kwahi wants a max and they aren't giving it to him. I could live with a Monroe for Kwahi S & T swap.

Yeah and I can live with flat out maxing Kwahi and keeping Greg too.

Ha, as could I.

[Kilo]

I can see the Knicks thinking they'll be a huge draw destination city and come up with nothing in their first attempts so get pissed and start spamming everybody with max offers - driving up prices for everybody else because they can.

Stan and Bowers should make Monroe their best offer and go from there - either Greg takes it or he doesn't. Given he accepted the QO to not be locked into a potential **** show here for the next four years, I can't see him signing on to play in NY with Jackson wholly unproven as a GM, Fisher wholly unproven as a coach and Dolan a hot mess of an owner. If Monroe leaves it will be to a team like San Antonio should Duncan and Gino retire, or to a team like Atlanta (though ownership change could hurt them - but Ferry and Bud have the SA pedigree).

I think the Smith waiving will go a long way in convincing Monroe that Gores is willing to spend and do what it takes - he ate $28M contract, how many other owners would have done that? Have any others even come close to doing that? I guess under the amnesty some big contracts might have been cut - but those were likely done for tax purposes which is a mitigating factor when giving credit.

Greg seems to be having a lot of fun right now on the bench - before the Smith waiving I had his chance at re-signing here at 0.1%, right now I'd probably have it at 15-20% as seven games does not make up for his other four seasons here full of coaching chances, bad basketball and turmoil.

Does anybody know what his cap hold would be this off-season? Is it 250% given he signed the QO meaning 13.25M cap hold? I've also seen it at 190% of previous contract which would make it $10.07M. If it's the latter than we'd be able to spend $20M on other free agents and then go over the cap to re-sign Monroe ie pay him - $13M-14M

[haulerch]

I personally believe it's worthless to predict free agency because things change so much. There is a lot we don't know.

Is SVG willing to meet GM's demands now? Is this winning streak and hopefully continued success enough to make GM want to be here after some terrible and tumultuous seasons here?

I'm not sure about that answer but I do know he is going to get payed big money by someone.

I have been critical of GM for the past two years because I felt that he hadn't improved much from year two and thought his defensive effort was poor. But I have been genuinely pleased with his play. His offense and rebounding have always been fantastic but he has really improved defensively and he has improved his jump shot.

I didn't want both Monroe and Smith here. I knew we couldn't get rid of Smith unless we have up something valuable and I didn't believe cutting him was an option from ownership.

I would like to resign GM, but my gut feeling tells me that GM will receive a much more lucrative offer than Detroit is willing to match. (I'm too lazy to look up who has cap space, etc.)

[Kilo]

That leaves, the Celtics, Lakers, 6ers, and Knicks but Greg doesn’t want to lose and these franchises are in worse shape than we are. I think the odds are high that Greg comes back as long as we continue to win.

Something else to consider with these lottery teams - the high lotto is a big man draft this year and the draft happens before free agency opens. So if some of these teams draft Okafor, Towns, Cauley-Stein, Turner that could dissuade Greg from looking to sign there assuming he'd want to be a full time center going forward. Sixers already have Noel and Embiid to boot.

[Jackattaq]

I have seen NYK as a possible destination or someone who may be willing to offer Monroe a MAX deal. I obviously don't know GM or what his intentions are, but if he did go to NY, do you think he would weigh his role in that offense? With Melo in NY, Melo WILL ALWAYS be the primary option on the low-post or in the offense. Do you really think Monroe wants to go back to being "second-fiddle" on a bad team? Would he want to just be a rebounder and leader of the backups whenever Melo needed a blow? I'm not sure that Monroe is that guy for the triangle (his jumpshot isn't what Pau Gasols was for playing in the triangle). The Knicks may have the money and the appeal of the biggest market on their side (advertising dollars) to wave in front of prospective FA's but do you think that can outweigh the possibility of being just another highly paid player who can't blossom behind Melo's shot-chucking ways?

[ImHeisenberg]

Where we're at today may or may not be indicative of where we're at when the season is a wrap. Right now, I don't know how this turn around can't be beneficial to the prospect of re-signing Monroe. We waived Smith, gave him a more prominent role in the offense again and best of all, we've been winning as a result of those changes.

If this keeps pace, and we make the post season, maybe even surprise someone and win a series. I think Monroe would be very willing to stay in Detroit. But, it's also possible the wheels come off this roller coaster and we end up as a lottery team again and Monroe has zero interest in staying. It's too early to tell.

[DBC10]

I'm actually afraid of what Phil might do once FA hits next year. He's opened up a LOT of cap space for next season with a lot of expiring contracts being dead and the recent JR/Shump trade. He'll have his full rebuild ready to go from the highest pick in the draft and a warchest of money.

I feel like Moose will get offers from Phil after Marc doesn't work out. I'm sure if we placate Greg, he'll choose us regardless, but there's going to be competition out there.

[russkopp]

If it's true Greg didn't resign here because he didn't like playing with Smith and wanted to see how SVG's system was, this stretch should help our cause. That being said, money talks and if there's any team that can offer him a starting center spot on a decent team he may be gone. I don't see the point in him going to NYK to watch Carmelo shoot jumpers unless they pay him a fortune.

[bstein14]

Even with this winning streak, and even if the team makes the playoffs I still wouldn't be surprised to see Moose go. I know he does a good job of doing and saying the right things, but I think situations like the San Antonio game where he sits the entire 4th quarter might weigh on his decision. Obviously he wants to be an all-star and all-stars rarely sit an entire 4th quarter. That might be something that happens again throughout the season and it might be something that sticks with him.

[theBigLip]

Monroe has set himself up to be in control this offseason. I'm pretty sure he wasn't happy with where the Pistons were headed. But he never said he wouldn't come back.

The more the Pistons win, the more appealing staying here will be. But as Heisenberg said, this may/may not continue, so we'll have to wait and see.

I don't keep up on the specifics of the CBA, so I'm not sure how much more of a favorable contract we can give him compared to other teams, but I'm very confident we will not get outbid. Gores and SVG both know Detroit is not a sexy destination for a free agent and we will have to go above and beyond to get a free agent. I'm sure we will do that for Monroe.

My gut tells me we make the playoffs and have a competitive first round series but lose, and that Monroe signs with us.

[ImHeisenberg]

I don't keep up on the specifics of the CBA, so I'm not sure how much more of a favorable contract we can give him compared to other teams, but I'm very confident we will not get outbid.

The main sticking points is that Detroit can offer a 5-year contract, that nobody else can. And, they can build in bigger raises from year to year as well.