Knicks · Greg Monroe will be unrestricted FA next summer (page 1)

fishmike wrote:saw that. Max deal would be overpaying but he's a great great fit in the triangle. Not much of a rim protector but a good rebounder and excellent offensive player. He's also durable. Locking him in at 26 years old (ish) would be a nice piece moving forward.

if he has a break out yr (not sure if they have enough minutes for break out statistical yr) but we can grab him for about 3 yr 40 mill

fishmike wrote:saw that. Max deal would be overpaying but he's a great great fit in the triangle. Not much of a rim protector but a good rebounder and excellent offensive player. He's also durable. Locking him in at 26 years old (ish) would be a nice piece moving forward.

I think he can develop defensively. Pretty sure he just turned 24 too. He is one of the most complete young bigs in the game and could be an perennial all-star for Fisher and Phil.

Kudo's to teams like Detroit and PHX not caving to what they think is the value of a player and deviating their plan.
Kudo's to the players like Drummond who believes in themselves and willing to risk injury to seek their total free agency!

Bledsoe might be a bit of a guy not in touch with his true value. His agent never got a max offer to take to Suns and PHX is not going to bid against itself.

Drummond has a no trade clause but obviously can waive it if he likes the scenario.

Hope it works out the best for them.

With Drummond its the type of thing we can all hope for, a young guy who out plays his draft position and contract and willing to go free. Not sure what his value is but neither does SVG!

djsunyc wrote:monroe is not as good as what you would have to pay him to come. solid player but he's looking for max.

I'm not a fan of his, but him being a FA helps us whether we are interested in him or not, simply because the more players that are available, the higher the chances of us landing one we want (e.g. a competing team with cap space may target him as their first option instead of Millsap, where as if Millsap was the only PF available, every team needing a PF would target him).

gunsnewing wrote:Bledsoe for Monroe swap would be good for both Detroit and Phoenix

I don't know- the Morris brothers seem to be the kind of unspectacular players that just help their team win- I'd rather play them and Miles Plumlee than bring in Monroe (who hasn't shown he can help his team win yet)- see what Len can do too.

gunsnewing wrote:Bledsoe for Monroe swap would be good for both Detroit and Phoenix

They are a spread the floor teams so he kind of goes against that model unless you play him at the 5 with a defensive 4 but there are not that many defensive 4s that can also be rim protectors.

I like Monroe but his defense is lacking. I haven't looked at their numbers but I bet he compares well to a young Al Jefferson but maybe with better passing. I would play Monroe with Cole in this system all day long.

One good thing about this is that Monroe will likely not put up the numbers to garner a max contract if they do not trade Josh Smith. I still rank him 4th or 5 on my list of FA bigs.

That is why having YOUNG talent is very important, look Brook Lopez, the Nets were able to RESIGN their rookie deals to long term contracts, and go over to CAP at the same time to gain another 5-6m MLE by next summer to add another talent

We need solid role 2nd/3rd tier talents but ALSO need ALL STAR's to go with them
How can it all fit?

A deal on NEXT seasons draft night could make it happen for Vucevic or another YOUNG talent
With the draft rights to the 2015 draft pick, another 1st rounder in 2018, along with fill ins, it could be somehow be possible especially if we can rid our 2015 contracts outside of Melo, especially with JR/Iman

On theory

In the 10-12m range start salary
if we can get

Bledsoe
Vucevic

5-6m MLE to a SF/PF like a
Wilson Chandler *team option, with a trade being more likely/ 2 2nd rounders and fill ins/trade exemption ??*
Jeff Green *preferably but don't think the MLE would be enough for him*
Thad Young type talent

Wesley Mathews seems to be the most realistic option

Battum in a trade? great versatile TEAM defender that could get hot in the 3pt line and is very skilled and long/athletic

VDesai wrote:Man...I don't understand why Monroe took the qualifying offer. He should've signed a lucrative RFA deal. If he couldn't get a good offer sheet than he's probably not getting a big contract next year. Did anyone even try to give him an offer sheet?

Seems that he was never offered a contract according to him, so he cant sign what he wasnt offered.

And likely if a team did offer him a deal, the Pistons likely would match.

But for him this could be a great move, especially if his game improves even more, the the Pistons very well could lose him for nothing.

djsunyc wrote:monroe is not as good as what you would have to pay him to come. solid player but he's looking for max.

Yea but at the same time in 2 yrs when the new bargaining agreement takes place and salary cap sky rockets his salary may not be to bad.

knickscity wrote:

VDesai wrote:Man...I don't understand why Monroe took the qualifying offer. He should've signed a lucrative RFA deal. If he couldn't get a good offer sheet than he's probably not getting a big contract next year. Did anyone even try to give him an offer sheet?

Seems that he was never offered a contract according to him, so he cant sign what he wasnt offered.

And likely if a team did offer him a deal, the Pistons likely would match.

But for him this could be a great move, especially if his game improves even more, the the Pistons very well could lose him for nothing.

It sucks being a restricted free agent with a small market team, especially for players of his caliber who aren't clear max players. Detroit held him hostage and no other teams will offer knowing they will match after 3 days.

Knixkik wrote:Taking the qualifying offer in Detriot. That is a big win for us. Ensures a very good big man option next summer that we didn't expect to be there. He is a great fallback to M Gasol, and still has a ton of upside in the right system.

1) While Monroe is a rare player in todays time as a young big who has some well developed low post moves/offense for his experience level, he offers no rim protection and he cannot space the floor as a shooter. That means, along with his mobility, that he's got almost no value as a hybrid PF, he's only functional with the right kind of power forward next to him. Basically you need a player like Taj Gibson, a young athletic PF with length who can defend the rim and is a plus defender and who has a passable jump shot to pair with him.

2) He took the qualifying offer because he's betting on himself and on positional value of center in the league, he's seeking the full max for his tenure level

3) He's going to get traded by the Pistons this season. They aren't going to just let a young big walk without any compensation. While he has leverage in terms of being able to say Yes or No to a new extension with a new team ( thus changing their desire to trade for him), the Pistons still hold his Bird Rights, which is valuable to Monroe to have shipped with him to a new team versus an outright free agent signing.

For the Knicks to get Monroe, he would need to be traded to another team, which is likely, then decide to NOT resign with them ( likely breaking his word with that team and generally destroying his agent's reputation since no team will want to part assets on a rental unless they get a verbal commit to an extension) and then sign with the Knick at less than the full max possible.

I would say his chances of being a Knick are near impossible.

It's ok to be defensively limited as a big in the NBA, but you have to be able to SHOOT long range to get away with that. To be able to draw a big out to the perimeter and open up driving lanes for your slashers. Channing Frye can't defend the rim, but he's a legit Stretch 5, which makes him versatile because he can shoot.

If Monroe was a max type center, he'd have been offered a max offer sheet already.

The Knicks are better off finding a big in the draft, having those critical early cost controlled years, and develop him themselves.

The Knicks need, they desperately NEED to get past the "Let's gun for the latest name on the market" type acquisition and be willing to take the time to build through the draft.

VDesai wrote:Man...I don't understand why Monroe took the qualifying offer. He should've signed a lucrative RFA deal. If he couldn't get a good offer sheet than he's probably not getting a big contract next year. Did anyone even try to give him an offer sheet?

im not paying him a max deal he is nowhere near that good

TripleThreat wrote:

Knixkik wrote:Taking the qualifying offer in Detriot. That is a big win for us. Ensures a very good big man option next summer that we didn't expect to be there. He is a great fallback to M Gasol, and still has a ton of upside in the right system.

1) While Monroe is a rare player in todays time as a young big who has some well developed low post moves/offense for his experience level, he offers no rim protection and he cannot space the floor as a shooter. That means, along with his mobility, that he's got almost no value as a hybrid PF, he's only functional with the right kind of power forward next to him. Basically you need a player like Taj Gibson, a young athletic PF with length who can defend the rim and is a plus defender and who has a passable jump shot to pair with him.

2) He took the qualifying offer because he's betting on himself and on positional value of center in the league, he's seeking the full max for his tenure level

3) He's going to get traded by the Pistons this season. They aren't going to just let a young big walk without any compensation. While he has leverage in terms of being able to say Yes or No to a new extension with a new team ( thus changing their desire to trade for him), the Pistons still hold his Bird Rights, which is valuable to Monroe to have shipped with him to a new team versus an outright free agent signing.

For the Knicks to get Monroe, he would need to be traded to another team, which is likely, then decide to NOT resign with them ( likely breaking his word with that team and generally destroying his agent's reputation since no team will want to part assets on a rental unless they get a verbal commit to an extension) and then sign with the Knick at less than the full max possible.

I would say his chances of being a Knick are near impossible.

It's ok to be defensively limited as a big in the NBA, but you have to be able to SHOOT long range to get away with that. To be able to draw a big out to the perimeter and open up driving lanes for your slashers. Channing Frye can't defend the rim, but he's a legit Stretch 5, which makes him versatile because he can shoot.

If Monroe was a max type center, he'd have been offered a max offer sheet already.

The Knicks are better off finding a big in the draft, having those critical early cost controlled years, and develop him themselves.

The Knicks need, they desperately NEED to get past the "Let's gun for the latest name on the market" type acquisition and be willing to take the time to build through the draft.

babyKnicks wrote:I know I have a tendency to live in fantasy land. But does a Bledsoe, melo, mentor trifecta even remotely possible and a good thing to happen?

Immediately thought the same thing esp. if Bledsoe winds up taking his QO like Monroe just did. Monroe wouldn't be bad, esp. if he's the best FA option out there and if we could get him for fair market value. Tell ya what -- a Melo/Monroe/Aldrich frontcourt wouldn't be terrible for 2015/16 and beyond. Add to Monroe the following: Eric Bledsoe; guys like Early, Larkin, THJ, Shumpert, Aldrich, Quincy Acy etc. all show some nice progress this year; we re-fortify with a little more quality depth like we did this off-season, hopefully we hit the ground running with some good chemistry, etc., that wouldn't be bad man. Would I have preferred something a little more than Monroe/Bledsoe for our big FA splash? Sure, but this wouldn't be terrible at all.

Best case scenario is we grab Greg Monroe and he evolved into something close to Chris Bosh eventually. The post game and rebounding are already there pretty much; he just needs to get other elements to his game up to par -- his jump-shooting, FT shooting, defense.

So how 'bout that -- Greg Monroe/Eric Bledsoe next off-season? Will we have enough cap space to make a legit run at both players and would both of those guys be enough to make some serious noise in the East?