Milwaukee Bucks Rumors: Greg Monroe Still Available, No Interest Yet

With free agency nearing, the latest Milwaukee Bucks rumors suggest there has yet to be any team with a significant interest in trading for Greg Monroe.

As we prepare for what will likely be a busy few days in free agency for the Milwaukee Bucks in one way or another, there seems to be very little movement in terms of one of the longest standing rumors surrounding the team.

After trade rumors cropped up mentioning Greg Monroe’s name at the trade deadline, the future of the old school big man in Milwaukee seemed to be resting on a very uncertain footing.

That feeling has only been further intensified by a recent report from Mike Scotto of Sheridan Hoops and the Associated Press, which noted that the Bucks were openly shopping the services of the player who was their marquee free agent acquisition only 12 months ago.

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With the NBA Draft having passed for another year, one notable opportunity to trade Monroe also seemed to have passed Milwaukee by, and now heading into free agency, what is the outlook?

In the latest episode of the Lowe Post podcast, Zach Lowe was joined by ESPN’s leading NBA news-breaker Marc Stein to discuss the multiple storylines from around the league prior to the opening of free agency.

One of the topics of conversation that did come up was naturally Monroe. Lowe asked Stein if he had heard of any teams with an interest in Monroe, to which he replied:

"“At this early point, you know, free agency hasn’t even started, I don’t think so, but it’s early. I think if teams miss on their targets, does that change? He’s most certainly available, as you know. I do think we’ll see him get traded.”"

With Monroe still seeming like a lock to get traded eventually, even if a deal does not appear imminent, what’s the cause of a potential hold up?

Stein explained that movement on trades is a little bit slower than usual as teams look to maintain cap space to pursue free agents, but also as teams are wary of trading valuable contracts that have been signed under previous salary caps.

"“On one hand trades should be easier to make because there’s all of this cap space to trade into, but on the other hand, and I think we saw this to some degree at the draft, teams don’t want to give up guys on existing contracts because existing contracts are so much more valuable than the contracts that we’re going to see. I think teams want to hold on to cost certainty. So how much is that curtailing trades? I think there’s a general hesitancy to start giving up guys who are on deals that are going to look very favorable within 10 days.”"

Zach Lowe also expanded upon his own thoughts on any potential hold up for a Monroe deal, and very simply it comes down to the nature of Moose’s current contract.

"“Greg Monroe is so hard to move because David Falk [Monroe’s agent] did such a good job with that contract, that he kind of outsmarted himself. Because it’s a 2+1 [two years plus another as a player option], which is going to be a two year deal, which means he’s expiring now. And that’s great, he gets to dip right back into free agency when the cap is at 107 [million], but he’s in a Milwaukee situation that just hasn’t worked and he can’t get out, because nobody is going to give up a real asset for a dude who can walk in a year.”"

Considering the outlook of the NBA salary situation, there’s a chance that even if Greg Monroe does still get traded this summer, he could be more of a fallback for a team who misses out on their top targets.

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Whether that remains Milwaukee’s plan will only be known in time, although the signing of a major free agent big man early on could act as a major hint at their thought process in regards to Monroe’s future.