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With the recent acquisition of Ersan Ilyasova, it appears that we have seen the last of Greg Monroe in a Detroit Pistons uniform. An unrestricted free agent this summer, Monroe’s likely landing spot will be in the Atlantic Division. According to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times, the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks will likely be competing with one another for the services of Monroe.
Phil Jackson and the Knicks have not been shy about their interest in pursuing Monroe during free agency. While the Celtics have been a little more coy about specific targets, they too have expressed a desire to make a splash this summer. Both teams have ample cap space to make an offer, and it could turn into a bidding war.
Coming off a season where he averaged 15.9 points and a career-high 10.2 rebounds per game, Monroe is certainly a coveted free agent. He’s an extremely effective low-post player and a very good rebounder. With his back to the basket, he’s one of the better scorers in the league. The problem with Monroe is his inability to space the floor. It’s one of the reasons why the Pistons are likely to let him walk this offseason and have replaced him with Ilyasova, who has a more reliable jump shot.
The further Monroe gets from the basket, the less effective he becomes. Last year, on shots within three feet of the basket, Monroe was highly efficient hitting over 61 percent. On the other hand, Monroe’s shooting percentage dipped below 36 percent on shots three feet from the basket and beyond. Brandon Bass meanwhile, whose spot Monroe would likely claim on the Celtics, shot nearly 40 percent from that same distance. It may not be a completely fair comparison given Monroe attempted almost 200 more shots than Bass, but it does illustrate his limitations on offense.
The Celtics’ offense needs space to operate so guards like Marcus Smart and Isaiah Thomas can use dribble penetration to create offense for themselves, as well as their teammates.
Monroe is also not the fleetest afoot. The young Celtics guards like to play in transition and push the ball any chance they can get. Monroe is not the quickest player up and down the floor which will certainly hinder the Celtics’ ability to play up-tempo.
The Celtics would be willing to sacrifice a little bit on offense for an elite defender. Take a player like Willie Cauley-Stein for example.While he doesn’t necessarily bring much offense to the table, you’re willing to sacrifice that because the expectation is that he’ll become an elite rim protector in the NBA. With Monroe, his defense wouldn’t quite offset his limits on offense.
Defensively, Monroe is hardly the rim protector the Celtics desire. His block numbers are underwhelming — his per game average would have been fourth on the Celtics last year — due in large part to his lack of athleticism. As a one-on-one defender, Monroe is solid. Despite not being overly physical, he can hold his own in the post. However, he’s not very quick and doesn’t provide great help defense. The Celtics’ style of defense requires a lot of rotations and help. The team needs somebody who can not only provide help, but be quick enough to recover and rotate to the next open man.
Monroe is a very good player, he’s just not a good fit on the Celtics. He doesn’t space the floor, he’s not very effective in transition and he cannot protect the rim. With the Knicks interested in him as well, the Celtics will likely have to overpay to sign him. Signing Monroe wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, but the Celtics would be better suited spending that money either on a more versatile offensive player who better fits their style of play or an elite defender.
Derek McVay is a Boston Celtics beat writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @mcvay34, or add him to your network on Google.
