Stan Van Gundy disappointed Detroit Pistons didn’t sign Greg Monroe long-term
As free agency opened, Detroit Pistons’ head coach and president Stan Van Gundy hoped to lock down restricted free agent big man Greg Monroe. Instead, Monroe declined offers and signed his qualifying offer in order to become an unrestricted free agent in 2015.
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“There came a point where his agent said, “Look, we don’t want to get into a long back and forth. Give us your best offer.” We sat and talked about it and outlined some things we wanted to accomplish with the offer,” Van Gundy told Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. “When I say “we,” that was ownership involved. It was a well-thought-out, solid offer in terms of what we wanted to offer. Greg had to make a decision. I’m being honest. I was disappointed to a degree.”
Van Gundy continued to express his disappointment.
“I was disappointed for us,” Van Gundy explained. “We certainly wanted him to take the four-year deal. I’ve got great respect for him as a player and person, and he’s the kind of guy you want to build this around. At the same time, going forward and how you rebuild this thing, we have to have some discipline in what we do.”
Monroe put up 15.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 49.7% from the field and 65.7% from the free throw line last season. Monroe, who was the seventh-overall pick in the first round of the 2010 draft, has averaged 14.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 50.8% from the floor and 67.8% from the foul line.
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