The Greg Monroe Signing Hasn’t Worked Out, But It Was Not A Mistake
By Ti Windisch
Greg Monroe‘s fit with the Milwaukee Bucks has been poor, to say the least. The blame for that should not be on Moose.
Greg Monroe has become a straw man in Milwaukee. He once was the man at the center of the most celebrated free agency signing in Milwaukee Bucks history, but thanks to a rebuilding team having a rebuilding season he’s now the target of ire from a growing portion of the Bucks fanbase.
That’s not fair. Longtime readers will know that Behind the Buck Pass has not shied away from criticizing the signing (hindsight is 20-20, of course), and to a certain degree criticizing Monroe himself.
That’s also not fair. Greg Monroe has delivered exactly what the Bucks or anyone else could have expected from him this season, and actually done a little bit more. It’s not Monroe’s fault that Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker don’t fit right next to him because none of them can shoot well, that’s just how it is.
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Blaming the Bucks for this experiment is also unfair. Was it shortsighted to expect a starting lineup with four players who are unable to shoot to work in 2016? Probably.
That being said, what small market franchise in their right mind turns down Greg Monroe? The Bucks, under new owners, in a summer of buzz around Milwaukee’s young talent, would’ve seemed incredibly stupid if a report leaked that Monroe wanted to be a Buck and Milwaukee turned him down.
The team chose to give this weird, non-shooting lineup a shot because there is admittedly a lot of talent across that starting five. And also because it doesn’t really cost the Bucks much.
Sure, it costs money. Money that, quite honestly, would’ve probably been used on Robin Lopez or Tyson Chandler or some other mid-tier center if the Bucks had gotten any other free agents to sign, which is far from guaranteed.
Although those types of centers are better suited for Milwaukee’s young stars, does anyone really think the Bucks plus Robin Lopez is all of a sudden some dynamic 50-win team?
Monroe might get traded this summer, if only because Giannis and Jabari’s upcoming contracts demand the books be light over the next few years. If that happens, the Bucks have only officially lost one year of cap space by giving Greg Monroe a chance to succeed in Milwaukee.
If there’s any sort of good return for Moose, then the Bucks essentially took nothing that they had last summer and turned it into a trade package. That’s not a bad return on investment, considering a long-term deal given last summer is not very practical considering the upcoming salary issues Milwaukee will have.
Getting a draft pick and a decent role player out of Monroe is the same as trading away $15 million in this last cap year–which is a cheap price to pay for both of those things. In addition to getting whatever they may eventually get for Monroe, the Bucks also had a chance to assess the prospects of a player who could have been one hell of a fourth banana to go with their big three.
If there was only a 25 percent shot–or even less–that Moose worked well with Giannis, Jabari and Khris Middleton, how could Milwaukee pass up that chance? The Bucks saw an opportunity to potentially fast forward their timetable to contending without having to trade away anything significant, and they went for it.
Trading away Zaza Pachulia, Jared Dudley and Ersan Ilyasova could be considered a cost, but Dudley and Pachulia will both be free agents this summer anyway.
Milwaukee would’ve probably dumped Ersan either way, considering Jabari Parker would be taking his minutes and Ilyasova is owed around $8 million per season over this year and the next one.
Monroe has preformed as advertised–he’s actually been a bit better than he was last season according to most of his per 36 minutes numbers.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/6/2016.
Monroe has been more efficient on offense than he was last season, in both scoring and assisting per 36 minutes. He’s turned the ball over less, and blocked more shots.
The surprising defensive prowess credited to Monroe by advanced statistics earlier in the season has completely dissipated, but he’s probably not the worst defender in Milwaukee’s starting frontcourt.
He’s still good. On a different team, he could be very good. This is not that team, but Monroe not working out in Milwaukee is not indicative of a failure on either his or the Bucks behalf.
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Shooters shoot, and sometimes they miss.