Greg Monroe: Is he big 3 material?

[jay]

I would label him as a B+ player, where Big 3 players need to be a solid A or at least an A-.


I think you could get Monroe or Asik, get Derozan or Afflalo and team them with Rondo, Green, and Sullinger and have a pretty solid core full of As and Bs.

Rondo A-
Afflalo B+
Green B-
Sullinger B+ (plenty of room to improve)
Monroe B+
-------------
6th man: Bradley B-
7th man: 2014 draft pick


Surely Afflalo and Monroe could be had for some combo of Bass, Anthony, Bogans, Faverani, and a combo of 2014 Hawks/Nets pick, 2015 Clippers pick, and future Celtics picks.  (Save the future Nets picks)

[Geo123]

I think he can be.  He's a double double guy who gives you a low post presence on the Offensive end.  It depends on what you'd have to give up to get him. 

[Tr1boy]

High iq , below rim. Cant shoot. No pt of getting him imo

[fandrew]

I am of the mind that if we can get either Larry Sanders or Greg Monroe, we would have a solid Center. Both of those guys have been in badly managed organizations, and I think moving to the right situation would change everything for them.

As far as Greg Monroe goes, I think that he is good defensively. He is not a stud, but because he does not suck at Defense, he would be a game changer for us simply because he would be better than the no Center situation that we are in. And for everyone that thinks that he would be better as PF, PF is not his game. He was pushed over to make room Drummond. They are virtually the same height if you look at them back to back (there was a picture floating around a few months ago to show this). But just because he isn't a Drummond/Davis level talent people write off his value.

If we could trade Green plus a first for him, I would do that in a heartbeat. We are not going to get another Big Three most likely. And that being the case I would rather focus on what is possible to attain.

A team of

RR/Pressey
Marcus Smart (if we don't get a top 3 or 4 pick)/CJ
Hayward/Wallace
Sully/KO
Monroe/KO/Fav

Seems both affordable and possible. It would be a playoff team, maybe even a deep playoff team.

Get rid of Bass, Bradley, Green, and let go/S&T Humphrey, Bogans, and Bayless and we would clear our cap space to have room to resign Rondo/have flexibility for the next offseason.

This team would have plenty of offense and rebounding. Get this team to play dedicated defense, and I see good things with a win filled development year for next season.

[fitzhickey]

I would label him as a B+ player, where Big 3 players need to be a solid A or at least an A-.


I think you could get Monroe or Asik, get Derozan or Afflalo and team them with Rondo, Green, and Sullinger and have a pretty solid core full of As and Bs.

I'd say DeRozan is near A-

[LilRip]

Monroe should play the 5 and he would vastly improve this team. In a non-Pistons situation, I think he's on that "secondary" star level, which is pretty much where Rondo is now in his career. The difference is, Monroe plays a position that's hardest to fill.

It'll be interesting to see what the Pistons will do moving forward. Monroe does seem like the odd man out, with Drummond rounding out into a beast and JSmith ill-suited to play the 3. I doubt they'll take pennies or quarters on the dollar. Call me crazy but a Rondo+filler for Monroe+picks trade might not be out of the question, particularly if Detroit continues with its "win-now" mentality and wants battle-tested vets, while Boston continues with its "rebuilding" and wants cap flexibility along with more assets.

Celtics could decide though they want to rebuild as quick as possible and make a move for a vet, in which case, Rondo will stay and we'll probably see our 1st rd pick being shipped out.

[jambr380]

I would label him as a B+ player, where Big 3 players need to be a solid A or at least an A-.


I think you could get Monroe or Asik, get Derozan or Afflalo and team them with Rondo, Green, and Sullinger and have a pretty solid core full of As and Bs.

I'd say DeRozan is near A-

I would be pretty psyched to get Monroe and DeRozan (much less so with Asik and Afflalo). I don't see any way Toronto lets go of DeMar, though.

As far as the possible team above goes, I imagine you would need to subtract Green (in a Monroe deal) and Sullinger (in a DeRozan deal), which I am still okay with. KO and Bass can hold down the sf position; however, we would need to address sf with Green gone. We would also probably be down a couple of first rounders.

[LarBrd33]

I would label him as a B+ player, where Big 3 players need to be a solid A or at least an A-.


I think you could get Monroe or Asik, get Derozan or Afflalo and team them with Rondo, Green, and Sullinger and have a pretty solid core full of As and Bs.

I'd say DeRozan is near A-

I would be pretty psyched to get Monroe and DeRozan (much less so with Asik and Afflalo). I don't see any way Toronto lets go of DeMar, though.

As far as the possible team above goes, I imagine you would need to subtract Green (in a Monroe deal) and Sullinger (in a DeRozan deal), which I am still okay with. KO and Bass can hold down the sf position; however, we would need to address sf with Green gone. We would also probably be down a couple of first rounders.

Rondo, Derozan and Monroe prob gets you 44 wins

[Vox_Populi]

DeRozan is a chucker. Not really a fan of his.

[Eddie20]

How about the following?

Rondo
Green

for

Monroe (via S&T)
Jennings
Rights to their #1 pick (they would be selecting for us)

Why for us? Monroe gives us much needed size and is still just 23. Jennings has a reasonable contract (8M over the next 2 years) and I think he could flourish playing under Stevens. He too is very young (24) and if nothing else, his value could improve, much like Crawford's did. Right now their #1 is projected to be #8. Draft Express has Saric, Harris, and Gordon available at the spot, while Chad Ford has Smart, Harris, and Saric. All in all, this gives us young talent throughout our roster (Monroe, Sullinger, Olynyk, Jennings, a potentially re-signed Bradley, our lottery pick this year, the #8 pick, and #17.

Why for them? The trade allows Smith to move to his natural 4 spot, while giving Drummond the opportunity to carry more of the offensive load on the inside. Green rounds out their ultra athletic frontline and provides spacing with his ability to shoot. Rondo is a definite upgrade over Jennings and will be able to create easy scoring opportunities for both Smith and Drummond. All they need to round out their starting lineup is a sharp shooting SG to help space the floor. Perhaps Caldwell-Pope develops into that or maybe that need is addressed via free agency.

[PhoSita]

I would label him as a B+ player, where Big 3 players need to be a solid A or at least an A-.

I don't think it's necessarily this simple.

I think that on floor cohesion / fit is something that needs to be taken into account when talking about Big Threes.  What made the KG / Allen / Pierce grouping so great from first blush was their games were very different and complementary. 

The Miami Thrice, and the Westbrook / Durant / Ibaka grouping in OKC, on the other hand, have dealt with growing pains and arguably haven't been quite as dominant as you'd expect based on the talent on those teams because the stars don't always fit together that well.


My point is that I think a group of 3-4 B+ / A- type players could very well be better than a team with 2-3 As if the former group fits together really well, and the latter does not.  The mid-2000s Pistons team is an example of a unit that fit together really well, too.  The Spurs of the last few years have done great things despite not having a standout superstar player due to overall roster cohesion.

Monroe is a B+ sort of player, true, but I think his sort of game could mesh very well with a variety of teammates.

[PhoSita]

DeRozan is a chucker. Not really a fan of his.

He gets a decent number of assists for a wing without great passing ability, and a guy who plays most of his minutes with Lowry or Vasquez -- ball dominant guards.

I think it'd be hard to argue Derozan is taking shots away from any teammates, either.  He and Lowry take most of the shots and that is how it needs to be for that team.

[jambr380]

DeRozan is a chucker. Not really a fan of his.

He gets a decent number of assists for a wing without great passing ability, and a guy who plays most of his minutes with Lowry or Vasquez -- ball dominant guards.

I think it'd be hard to argue Derozan is taking shots away from any teammates, either.  He and Lowry take most of the shots and that is how it needs to be for that team.

Yeah, I mean he isn't perfect, but there are very few young top level sgs out there. Harden (25.4), DeRozan (22.7), and Dragic (20.3) are the only sgs to average over 20 ppg. Now, I would definitely take Dragic over DeMar based on percentages alone, but I would be quite happy if we were able to solidify the sg with a go-to scorer. Can Avery really be that guy?

It should also be noted that DeRozan and his Raptors are about to knock off the Nets, who were totally hot coming into the playoffs.

[nzea]

I think Monroe can play a similar role on a very good team as Pau Gasol played on the late 2000s Lakers teams.  He's not as good as Pau was, but to me he seems to have a similar skillset.  He should be playing at center, however.

IK that's how they screwed up Pau the last few years was playing him at PF and making him take too many jumpers.

[Vox_Populi]

DeRozan is a chucker. Not really a fan of his.

He gets a decent number of assists for a wing without great passing ability, and a guy who plays most of his minutes with Lowry or Vasquez -- ball dominant guards.

I think it'd be hard to argue Derozan is taking shots away from any teammates, either.  He and Lowry take most of the shots and that is how it needs to be for that team.

He's a talented shot creator and an okay passer and defender. It's also good he gets to the line so much. But I'd like his game more if he shot the 3 better.