Minnesota Sports Forum

Monroe is better than his reputation had me believe. He's the 9th worst rim protector at 49.9% at the rim when facing at least 7 shots there per game this year. Surprisingly Zaza is worse this year at 52.6%. However looking at Monroe's past years he was 4th worst last year at 55% and 9th worst again the year before at 51.6%. In comparison, Okafor is one spot better than him at 49.5%.

I doubt the Buck would do this trade but I'll comment anyway. IT seems someone last offseason here was a big fan of Monroe and was posting stats to show he was not a liability on defense but I do believe that was him playing a lot at PF but maybe I am wrong. Basically I don't buy he completely sucks at defense. So if he doesn't suck on that end all it costs you to move down 5 spots if there is for sure 10 guys in the draft you like then it's a no brainer. You get a productive player in Monroe who if you decide you don't want him can easily be moved or in a couple years just let go in FA or maybe even get something sign and trade.

My advanced stats are better than your advanced stats. Except for john hollinger, oh wait, his team sucks

monsterpile wrote:I doubt the Buck would do this trade but I'll comment anyway. IT seems someone last offseason here was a big fan of Monroe and was posting stats to show he was not a liability on defense but I do believe that was him playing a lot at PF but maybe I am wrong. Basically I don't buy he completely sucks at defense. So if he doesn't suck on that end all it costs you to move down 5 spots if there is for sure 10 guys in the draft you like then it's a no brainer. You get a productive player in Monroe who if you decide you don't want him can easily be moved or in a couple years just let go in FA or maybe even get something sign and trade.

I think Milwaukee does it because he's a horrible fit for their team as they have no one who can space the floor (Giannis and Jabari have both struggled with their outside shots this year and MCW is about as bad of a shooter as Rubio is). Monroe is currently coming off the bench for them so it's possible this could be an overpay by us

Those who advocate trading for Monroe, you do know that we'd only have him for one year and then its a player option. Essentially we could end up having a one year rental. Then what? Unless of course he sucks or gets injured and then we have to pay his almost $18 million in year 2.

TeamRicky wrote:Those who advocate trading for Monroe, you do know that we'd only have him for one year and then its a player option. Essentially we could end up having a one year rental. Then what? Unless of course he sucks or gets injured and then we have to pay his almost $18 million in year 2.

First off, let me re-emphasize that I would not trade a top-five pick for Monroe. I had a different proposal that can be looked at in previous thread pages.

And yes, I realize the structure of his contract. For me and my proposal, I believe it's a good thing. I think it allows an out should the team fit not be so great. For instance, his team defense is worse than imagined or it forces Towns to be less effective from the PF spot, etc. And as you mentioned, what if he does get seriously injured? Then that move doesn't cripple you like it might if he were entering a new four/five-year deal. Note: I don't think either of those are reasons that hold me back from making the trade, but I'm giving you examples of why his contract length being two years isn't the worst thing in this hypothetical scenario.

Also, Pekovic's deal expires in two years as well. So, we could perhaps be in a situation where we have a shit-ton of cap space in two years AND have Monroe's Bird Rights. This is advantageous for us in that we'd have the luxury of being able to add another marquee piece in free agency and still re-sign Monroe even if it meant going over the cap. That could enable us to have Towns, Wiggins, LaVine, Rubio, Monroe and Free Agent TBD on the same team, which sounds really good in theory. Or we could use that cap space to add some damn good role players at multiple positions. It's just added flexibility.

northernhoops wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I doubt the Buck would do this trade but I'll comment anyway. IT seems someone last offseason here was a big fan of Monroe and was posting stats to show he was not a liability on defense but I do believe that was him playing a lot at PF but maybe I am wrong. Basically I don't buy he completely sucks at defense. So if he doesn't suck on that end all it costs you to move down 5 spots if there is for sure 10 guys in the draft you like then it's a no brainer. You get a productive player in Monroe who if you decide you don't want him can easily be moved or in a couple years just let go in FA or maybe even get something sign and trade.

I think Milwaukee does it because he's a horrible fit for their team as they have no one who can space the floor (Giannis and Jabari have both struggled with their outside shots this year and MCW is about as bad of a shooter as Rubio is). Monroe is currently coming off the bench for them so it's possible this could be an overpay by us

Sure maybe they are willing to move on but what would other teams give up to get Monroe?

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:These are decent articles talking about Monroe's defense. He's not as bad as khans makes him sound, IMO, but the Bucks defense has regressed this year in part because of the Monroe/Pachulia swap. That was obvious heading into the season. Also, playing with Towns will have its advantages, one of them being players that fit around him. I think Monroe's limitations on defense could be minimized with the right front-court partner.

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/07/30/greg-monroe-pistons-nba-free-agency

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2015/1/30/7913159/pistons-news-roundup-greg-monroe-defense-trade-rumors

From the second article, it pulled a Stan Van Gundy quote from a different article:

"I think Greg's actually pretty good defensively," Van Gundy said. "I've thought that all year. He's a very good low post defender, in my opinion. And he's a smart defender. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes [...] His mental approach and ability makes him a solid defender."

Good stuff Cam.

Speaking of Zaza, this dude has been in the league for 10+ years, right? Did he just suddenly become this bedrock defender of the paint in the last two seasons or was he always this good? He just seems like one of these obscure players that I never really thought about....until last year when he was credited with anchoring Milwaukee's defense and now doing it again in Dallas. What the hell happened?

(by the way, he's also not a shot blocker. It just goes to show that great interior defense can happen in more ways than one. It sounds like with him he's an immovable object that just knows how to position himself properly).

It is also worth to mention that despite the setback in defense that Milwaukee had this season, their Drtg has been still slightly better with Monroe on floor compared when he is off floor. He also have third highest net rating in Milwaukee team behind only Mayo and Middleton and second highest on-off behind only Middleton. So I'm pretty sure that Milwaukee might not give him up that easily.

Zaza's defensive value is quite similar what Pek used to have here when he was healthy. He boxes out really well and improves team defensive rebounding even when he is not getting the rebound. This season his individual defensive rebounding numbers have been great. Zaza is also much better pick and roll defender than Pek, those two skills will already make him really valuable contributor in defense.

I don't really either know how he transformed to that good defender so late in his career. I think he was considered to be pretty bad in defense and then last season suddenly Milwaukee was elite defensive team with Zaza on the floor. Hopefully we see similar improvement in Dieng's defense some year.

Camden wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:Those who advocate trading for Monroe, you do know that we'd only have him for one year and then its a player option. Essentially we could end up having a one year rental. Then what? Unless of course he sucks or gets injured and then we have to pay his almost $18 million in year 2.

First off, let me re-emphasize that I would not trade a top-five pick for Monroe. I had a different proposal that can be looked at in previous thread pages.

And yes, I realize the structure of his contract. For me and my proposal, I believe it's a good thing. I think it allows an out should the team fit not be so great. For instance, his team defense is worse than imagined or it forces Towns to be less effective from the PF spot, etc. And as you mentioned, what if he does get seriously injured? Then that move doesn't cripple you like it might if he were entering a new four/five-year deal. Note: I don't think either of those are reasons that hold me back from making the trade, but I'm giving you examples of why his contract length being two years isn't the worst thing in this hypothetical scenario.

Also, Pekovic's deal expires in two years as well. So, we could perhaps be in a situation where we have a shit-ton of cap space in two years AND have Monroe's Bird Rights. This is advantageous for us in that we'd have the luxury of being able to add another marquee piece in free agency and still re-sign Monroe even if it meant going over the cap. That could enable us to have Towns, Wiggins, LaVine, Rubio, Monroe and Free Agent TBD on the same team, which sounds really good in theory. Or we could use that cap space to add some damn good role players at multiple positions. It's just added flexibility.

I'm not sure if I would even be ready to trade Dieng straight for Monroe. Monroe is still clearly better scorer even though Dieng has improved a lot but I think that our team won't lack scoring. Both players are signed for one more seasons since unless Monroe gets injured or performs really bad, I'm pretty sure he will opt out. Dieng makes little over 2 million next season and Monroe about 15 million more. Dieng is also restricted free gent compared to Monroe who is unrestricted. So it would be more probable that we could keep him. Of course if we can get rid of Martin in trade for Monroe, it decreases the salary difference next season but still I think giving extra 1st round pick would be already too much.

Ok so Grayson Allen is trending now for tripping which is something to talk about. What I don't get is the guy seems to be ballin out and he is projected right now at the end of the first round. What's the knock on him to keep him that low?