NBA Rumors: Charlotte Hornets should pursue Greg Monroe

As soon as former Miami Heat and Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy took over as head coach and president of the Detroit Pistons, speculation began to grow as to which of the Pistons’ talented bigs Van Gundy would look to get rid of.

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Although there was almost universal agreement that Josh Smith would frustrate Van Gundy to no end, most settled on Greg Monroe as the odd man out. There have been reports Van Gundy would like  a stretch four to play next to center Andre Drummond, much like he played Rashard Lewis and Ryan Anderson at power forward next to Dwight Howard in Orlando and had great success. Although Van Gundy has expressed that he is a big fan of Monroe, another reason he may not return is because he is set to become a restricted free agent.

Rick Bonnell and Ben Weinrib of The Charlotte Observer believe the Bobcats should – and could make a run at Monroe.

"He’s a restricted free agent, which can be problematic. Also the Hornets already invested a lottery pick in power forward Cody Zeller. But Monroe averages 14 points and nine rebounds for his career. And the Detroit Pistons spent big on Josh Smith, who is somewhat redundant to Monroe……Monroe has worked well with a true center (Andre Drummond) the past two seasons, portending good potential cohesion with Jefferson."

Monroe put up 15.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game last season despite playing in a lineup with both Drummond and Smith.