Would You Make This Greg Monroe Trade? [BLOG]
By: Evan Jankens
@kingofthekc
Could Greg Monroe be on the move before Thursday's NBA trade deadline? The answer is most likely no, but Sports Illustrated came up with a pretty clever offer I would jump all over.
SI has the Detroit Pistons trading Greg Monroe (restricted free agent in the offseason), Rodney Stuckey and Kyle Singler to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeremy Lamb, Steven Adams, Perry Jones, Kendrick Perkins, and an unprotected 2015 first round pick. To me it's a no brainer.
I have been saying since the beginning of the season the Pistons need to trade Monroe so they can get something out of the guy because they will lose him in the offseason. If Monroe wants to win, I don't believe it's going to be in Detroit.
Monroe is a true fundamental big man in every sense of the word. He has post moves and can extend the floor which makes him difficult to defend. It's a position every NBA team would like to have filled on their roster.
I believe that Kyle Singler will turn into a very nice NBA player, he will play a role much like Kyle Korver just not hitting threes to the extreme like Korver does. Stuckey is what he is, a nice 2 guard who can get to the rack but tends to rely on jump shots.
Now to the Thunder players... Jeremy Lamb, is a young 2 guard who could wind up being everything the Pistons originally thought they had when they drafted Rodney Stuckey. Lamb is a guy who can knock down the three with consistency and also take the ball to the rack. Kendrick Perkins is just a throw-in, in my opinion, to make the money work but has also made a name for himself in the league for his defense. Now the interesting part would be Perry Jones who was a stud at Baylor and Steven Adams a rookie out of Pitt. Both players are really raw but could blossom into nice players.
Here is how the money would break down...
Monroe is owed $4.5 million this year.
Stuckey is owed $8.5 million this year.
Singler is owed a little over $1 million this season and next.
For the Thunder the money is as followed:
Perkins is owed $8.7 million for the next two seasons.
Lamb is owed $ 2.1 million for the next two seasons.
Adams is owed just over $2 million for the next 4 seasons as he is on a rookie deal.
Jones is owed just over $ 1 million for the next 3 seasons.
Click HERE to see the trade worked on ESPN's trade machine.
Would you make the deal? I know I would do it based solely on the fact I don't want the Pistons to lose Monroe for nothing. Unless the Pistons decide to make Monroe a max player at the end of the season, which he's not, then they will lose him to free agency.
