Greg Monroe Rumors: Trail Blazers, Hawks and Magic are serious bidders

By Josh Hill | Jul 1, 2014

Apr 16, 2014; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Greg Monroe (10) drives to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

The Detroit Pistons aren’t a team that is being viewed as a free agent destination, even after hiring Stan Van Gundy to rebuild the franchise’s image, but they do happen to have one of the best free agents on the market. Greg Monroe is a restricted free agent, meaning the Pistons can match any offers he gets but there might be a team out there who just offers too much for Detroit to feel comfortable with.

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According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, three teams have emerged as serious bidders for Monroe with the Portland Trail Blazers, Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks are all names to watch in the Monroe sweepstakes.

"Detroit Pistons big man Greg Monroe is a man in demand. The Pistons have let it be known that they want to retain the restricted free agent — very much so — but the perception around the league is that Detroit will not rule out sign-and-trades if the offer sheet he gets is too pricey.Three teams, in fact, have quickly emerged as serious bidders for Monroe, according to sources close to the process: Atlanta, Orlando and Portland."

We’ve seen restricted free agents in the past get huge max offers from other teams only to have such deals matched by their current teams. This happened with Roy Hibbert a few years go when the Blazers maxed him out and the Pacers matched in order to keep him.

That could be what happens with Monroe as he has been said to be after a max contract and the Pistons have been very adamant that they do not want to let him go. That being said, there might be a price too high for Detroit to pay and they may let the market decide a fair price on Monroe.

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