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Milwaukee Bucks Meet Free Agent Greg Monroe

ByAdam McGee|

He was a player that the Milwaukee Bucks were certainly rumored to be interested in, but I’m not sure anybody expected the team to actually sit down for a face to face meeting with Greg Monroe quite as quickly as this.

Only two hours after free agency’s midnight opening, the Bucks and the 24-year-old met in Washington D.C., the city where Monroe played his college basketball with the Georgetown Hoyas.

ESPN’s Marc Stein was first to report the sit-down between Milwaukee and Monroe, and in fact revealed that only the Knicks had spoken to him before the Bucks:

"After Knicks had sitdown with Greg Monroe in DC shortly after midnight, Milwaukee got its audience with Monroe … starting at around 2 AM"

We had already been aware of reports that the Bucks would meet with the former Detroit Pistons big man, but nobody expected it to be quite so soon, even after USA Today reports suggested it would happen within the first 24 hours of free agency.

"Free agent forward-center Greg Monroe plans to meet with four teams in the first 24 hours of a free agency. The Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers are on Monroe’s list on day one of free agency, and there is a possibility he meets with other teams, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports."

That sort of enthusiasm generally doesn’t go unnoticed by players though, and a post-midnight meeting will leave Monroe with little doubt that if he finds Milwaukee’s terms appealing, they’re a team who desperately want his services. As mentioned above, the Knicks were the team first off the mark, and they sent a team of heavyweight level NBA names to meet with Monroe according to the New York Post:

"A Knicks contingent of Phil Jackson, general manager Steve Mills, coach Derek Fisher and vice president of operations Jamie Matthews descended upon Washington D.C. at midnight Wednesday to meet with Greg Monroe at superagent David Falk’s offices, then was to fly to Los Angeles to meet with Clippers defensive center DeAndre Jordan in the afternoon in making their first bids for a free-agent splash."

Monroe will likely receive the same type of attention when the Lakers contingent fly in to see him today.

The Portland Trail Blazers can then be expected to slot in somewhere later in the day.

The real question though is what does Monroe want from his next landing spot? Is it the most money possible, the limelight or the best chance to win?

In an interview with his home-state’s paper The Advocate, Monroe gave conflicting messages. First he was all about winning:

"I’m looking to be with a team that’s ready to win. Hopefully it will be a team where I’m the missing piece."

But then he qualified that with the notion that he wants to be with a winning team that also will allow him to maximize his earnings with an amiable contract, both in terms of value and opportunities to opt out in the future:

"We are definitely looking at all our options. You can see the trend is everybody’s taking shorter deals right now. So, most likely, I might take that route, too, and when the new deal kicks in, get a longer-term contract.I’m looking at a two-year deal plus an option."

Hmm, sounds like Monroe wants it all. That would be an interesting time in the Bucks team-building process with pay days for guys like Jabari Parker, Giannis Antetokounmpo and maybe even Michael Carter-Williams all on the agenda in that timeframe too.

If it’s all about winning though (something Monroe didn’t get to do in Detroit), then I’m not sure any of those other three teams can come close to offering what Milwaukee can right now.

The Lakers have added young talent, and will start to turn things around, but a declining Kobe Bryant is the only truly established NBA talent they have right now.

Likewise, the Knicks have Carmelo Anthony and not a whole lot else, and are coming off the back of a train wreck first season for the Phil Jackson/Derek Fisher regime.

Then there’s the Trail Blazers, undoubtedly the best of the four teams in recent years, but could that be about to change? Portland wouldn’t be interested in Monroe if it wasn’t for the fact they’re about to lose LaMarcus Aldridge, and have they just replaced Wes Matthews with Al-Farouq Aminu?

The Bucks don’t have these question marks.

They can offer a young, developing team with a sky high ceiling that can already be identified.

They can offer a sense of stability in terms of roster, coaching, front office and ownership.

They can offer a chance to work hard and become one of the league’s best away from the harsh media glare.

Now, we just have to wait and see what Monroe is all about.

Next: Reports: Khris Middleton To Re-sign For $70m Over Five Years

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