Report: Greg Monroe accepts Piston's qualifying offer

[Moranis]

What I take this to mean is that Detroit will have no choice but to trade Monroe because otherwise they are going to lose him.

This trade seems to make sense for both teams.

Monroe, Caldwell-Pope, Datome

for

Waiters, Thompson

There are two additional circumstances in which a trade requires the player's consent:

When the player is playing under a one-year contract (excluding any option year) and will have Larry Bird or Early Bird rights at the end of the season. This includes first round draft picks following their fourth (option) season, who accept their team's qualifying offer for their fifth season. When the player consents to such a trade, his Larry Bird/Early Bird rights are not traded with him, and instead becomes a Non-Bird free agent3.
For one year after exercising the right of first refusal to keep a restricted free agent. The player must consent to a trade to any team, although he cannot be traded to the team that signed him to the offer sheet.

They can only trade Monroe with his consent though.

That means if Monroe wants he can make it quite difficult for them to get value for him.

He could, but I don't see why he wouldn't be fine with that trade to Cleveland.  Starting center on a team with James, Love, and Irving can't be a bad place to be.

[Fafnir]

No bird rights so Cleveland couldn't keep him (They'll have zero cap space) and no potential sign and trade options for him.

I don't think Monroe will consent to a trade.

[Endless Paradise]

No bird rights so Cleveland couldn't keep him (They'll have zero cap space) and no potential sign and trade options for him.

I don't think Monroe will consent to a trade.

Exactly, there is no benefit for Monroe to accept almost any trade outside of one to Philly - and Philly likely isn't interested in him since they've got two burgeoning young bigs playing both of his position.  They also could've already offered him a deal if they were so inclined.

[indeedproceed]

No bird rights so Cleveland couldn't keep him (They'll have zero cap space) and no potential sign and trade options for him.

I don't think Monroe will consent to a trade.

Almost makes me think this is partially a power move from David Falk. Just to prove it can happen.

[nickagneta]

No bird rights so Cleveland couldn't keep him (They'll have zero cap space) and no potential sign and trade options for him.

I don't think Monroe will consent to a trade.

Almost makes me think this is partially a power move from David Falk. Just to prove it can happen.

I think it makes the most sense for Monroe from a money standpoint depending on what the Pistons were offering and what Monroe was getting from offers from other teams.

For instance, let's say the 5 year $60 million offer was the best Detroit would go. By taking the $5.6 million QO, playing the year in Detroit putting up 16-17 PPG and 11 RPG then he might get a max contract of about what 4 years and $70 something million. It makes complete sense then since obviously $75-80 million is way above $60 million and he would also get to pick where he plays.

I doubt any agent advises his client to take the QO to prove anything other than he will make more money by doing so.

[mmmmm]

No bird rights so Cleveland couldn't keep him (They'll have zero cap space) and no potential sign and trade options for him.

I don't think Monroe will consent to a trade.

Exactly, there is no benefit for Monroe to accept almost any trade outside of one to Philly - and Philly likely isn't interested in him since they've got two burgeoning young bigs playing both of his position.  They also could've already offered him a deal if they were so inclined.

Well - he could approve of a trade to any team that knows it will have plenty of cap space next summer.

For example, ahem, ... Boston...

[indeedproceed]

No bird rights so Cleveland couldn't keep him (They'll have zero cap space) and no potential sign and trade options for him.

I don't think Monroe will consent to a trade.

Almost makes me think this is partially a power move from David Falk. Just to prove it can happen.

I think it makes the most sense for Monroe from a money standpoint depending on what the Pistons were offering and what Monroe was getting from offers from other teams.

For instance, let's say the 5 year $60 million offer was the best Detroit would go. By taking the $5.6 million QO, playing the year in Detroit putting up 16-17 PPG and 11 RPG then he might get a max contract of about what 4 years and $70 something million. It makes complete sense then since obviously $75-80 million is way above $60 million and he would also get to pick where he plays.

I doubt any agent advises his client to take the QO to prove anything other than he will make more money by doing so.

See though, I think this is the perfect place for a power play (say that 3 times fast).

1) Allegedly, the Pistons have not made an official offer of anything at all, let alone a guaranteed 5 yrs $60 million

2) David Falk, his agent, has a bit of a reputation as a ball buster when it comes to teams trying to strong arm players through RFA.

3) With a relatively low-risk prospect like Monroe (the odds of him getting a $12 million per contract in the open market are relatively high next year), Falk can make it clear to future teams that he will take the nuclear option.

4) Falk needs to do this now, because his client list isn't exactly booming with potential. He needs to show that he's a power player, because A) Sullinger and Porter's RFA years are not far away, and B) he needs to show future prospective clients that if you need someone to push back against a heavy-handed team, Falk can do it.

When you look at how poorly Rich Paul has handled Eric Bledsoe's RFA, and how deftly Dan Fegan (Parsons) and Mark Bartelstein (G Hayward) handled their own RFA challenges, it might be the case that David Falk feels like he needs to make a statement here, and a max offer doesn't seem to be on the table.

[nickagneta]

If Falk is doing a power play then he is doing a massive disservice to his client.

I think it's more an issue of expected earnings over the next 5 years and maxing that out.

[Fafnir]

If Falk is doing a power play then he is doing a massive disservice to his client.

I think it's more an issue of expected earnings over the next 5 years and maxing that out.

Agent's have their own agenda, not always exactly lined up with their current clients in any negotiations.

It happens in sports all the time sadly, many NFL agents would give teams the structure and amounts they wanted on their lower round draft picks if teams would play ball on the high first round pick.

Huge first round pick deals before the slotted salaries in the new CBA gave agents the biggest payday and also helped them recruit other clients.

[indeedproceed]

If Falk is doing a power play then he is doing a massive disservice to his client.

I think it's more an issue of expected earnings over the next 5 years and maxing that out.

Agent's have their own agenda, not always exactly lined up with their current clients in any negotiations.

It happens in sports all the time sadly, many NFL agents would give teams the structure and amounts they wanted on their lower round draft picks if teams would play ball on the high first round pick.

Huge first round pick deals before the slotted salaries in the new CBA gave agents the biggest payday and also helped them recruit other clients.

Exactly. I don't know what better advertising an agent could have than netting a borderline max FA a max offer sheet (ala Hayward or Parsons), and I don't know how much worse PR an agent could get than suffering the bullying from the Pistons or Suns and coming up well short of where you have to assume their clients expected them to.

I do think that Greg Monroe must be pretty disappointed at this point with how things have shaken out.

[Fafnir]

Now I'm sure Falk can make a very good case why this is also in Monroe's best interests. But any good negotiator can make a case for either side convincingly.

[Irish Stew]

The thought of adding Josh Smith to other bad outside shooters like Rondo, Smart, and Turner makes me ill. A team of poor outside shooters will get killed in this league and would have to rely on an extremely fast pace with lots of fast break basketball, concentrating on speed, athleticism and a runner's like conditioning, ala 80's fast break basketball players. I just don't see Stevens being able to sell that to that group of players.

As much as I am not a fan of OLynyk, if he can continue to shoot a TS% in the 55-57% area, that's the type of shooting player you need to put alongside a Rondo or Smart when they play PG. For that reason I would have preferred Ainge picking up a Jodie Meeks like player than an Evan Turner like player.

If we make a deal for Smith then I doubt than any more than one of Rondo and Smart are in our long term plans. It would probably be Rondo. Because of his close friendship with Smith he would sign here long term as long as the money is there. I've never bought Rondo/Smart at the 1/2. Something has to give there. I can't recall any team ever contending for a championship with that poor of a shooting backcourt regardless of the good defense. If you're trying to build a championship contender, Turner would probably be only a rotation player at most.

[LooseCannon]

If Falk is doing a power play then he is doing a massive disservice to his client.

I think it's more an issue of expected earnings over the next 5 years and maxing that out.

What if Monroe strongly wants out of Detroit (or wants out if Smith stays) and is willing to give up money to force that?  Is a power play the appropriate move to maximize the chances of his client's wishes happening?