Greg Monroe officially signs 1-year qualifying offer with Pistons
The Detroit Pistons announced Monday that restricted free agent Greg Monroe has officially signed his one-year qualifying offer, a move that will keep him with the Pistons for the coming season but make him an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The qualifying offer, worth $5.5 million, represents an appreciable risk on the part of Monroe, as explained two posts below. He'll need another strong and healthy season ahead of hitting the market, where the demand for his services may not dictate the maximum contract he's thought to be seeking. In the interim, he has what amounts to a no-trade clause, able to block any move because an acquiring team would not own his Bird rights entering free agency.
For his part, Monroe was saying the right things on Monday afternoon:
“I look forward to playing for Coach Van Gundy and his staff,” - Greg Monroe @M10OSE
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) September 8, 2014
"(Van Gundy) has a proven track record and I’m excited about working with my teammates to get better and prepare for the season.” - @M10OSE
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) September 8, 2014
New head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy was complimentary of Monroe, who, while a talented player, is a somewhat difficult fit on a roster that includes Andre Drummond and Josh Smith. Here's Van Gundy on the 24-year-old Monroe:
"I have said from day one that we have great respect for Greg as a person and like what he brings to this team as a player. We have had good dialogue with Greg throughout the offseason with the understanding that there were multiple options for both parties involved, and we respect his decision. We look forward to a great year from Greg as we continue to build our team moving forward."
And so ends an eventful free-agent process for Monroe, whose camp sought sign-and-trade deals out of Detroit but ultimately opted to roll the dice on this one-year deal.