Re-signed Green/Splitter, Mills and 16+18 first rounders. That's the lowest offer I'd accept from the Spurs.
But LA can just go there if they create cap space... And they don't need to trade with us to do it...
Greg Monroe is not that good. LaMarcus is actually a much more efficient scorer inside than Monroe. 0-3ft LA = 70% Monroe = 61% 3-10ft LA = 45% Monroe = 37% But ironically Greg actually shoots a higher percentage overall because he doesn't take so many jump shots. That is what is so maddening about LA. He just needs to change the way he plays.
The more I think about Monroe the more I like the idea of bringing him here. Ideally with Aldridge, but even as his replacement I'm intrigued. With LMA we could run a high post low post Memphis style attack; Aldridge up top shooting like Marc and Monroe dropping buckets down low like ZBo. We have superior shooters than Memphis to provide proper court spacing. Monroe has a solid midrange jumper so he won't clog the lane if CJ and Damian drive. He rebounds the ball better than Lopez and is far more athletic. He still has room to improve, after Lopez rookie contract he went from a respectable sub to an ok starter. Monroe is already a solid starter and is only 24 so in a new environment Neil might expect him to improve to a good starter. The tough part of acquiring Monroe is we have to lose either Aldridge, Batum in a sign and trade, or likely Wes and Rolo. If we lose Aldridge or Wes and Rolo we also have to renounce both Afflalo and Kaman. But if we trade away Batum we can stay above the cap and bring back any or all of our free agents. Arron could come back to help along with Wes to take Nic's minutes at SF. Any of Rolo, Kaman, Freeland could be brought back to provide front court depth. So trading Batum seems to be the least costly of all the options. Even if we agree to a contract with Monroe early in free agency using cap space we still would have until the 10th to entice the Pistons to a sign and trade so we could keep those free agents.
Comparing LaMarcus and Monroe stats through the age of 24 http://bkref.com/tiny/BlEWu LaMarcus/Greg Monroe (letter of player with advantage) MPG 33.4 / 31.3 L FG% 48.9 / 50.5 G eFG% 49.1 / 50.5 G FT% 76.2 / 69.3 L PTS 16.0 / 14.3 L Reb 7.1 / 9.2 G Ast 1.6 / 2.3 G Tov 1.3 / 2.4 L PF 2.9 / 2.4 G ORTG 112 / 109 L DRTG 108 / 106 G PER 18.4 / 19.7 G TS% 52.9 / 54.5 G FTr 25.9 / 37.6 G ORB% 9.6 / 11.3 G DRB% 16.5 / 22.8 G TRB% 13.0 / 16.9 G AST% 8.5 / 12.6 G BLK% 2.3 / 1.5 L TOV% 8.0 / 13.8 L USG% 23.3 / 21.9 G OWS 17.6 / 19.3 G DWS 10.4 / 12.8 G WS 28.0 / 32.2 G WS/48 .135 / .131 L OBPM 0.6 / 0.9 G DBPM 0.5/ 1.2 G BPM 1.1 / 2.1 G VORP 7.8 / 12.3 G 8 categories for LaMarcus 21 for Monroe from my nonscientific 29 categories I found interesting. LaMarcus has made a lot of improvement since he was Monroe's age and more than the average NBA players career arc so I wouldn't expect Monroe to necessarily match those levels of improvement. However I would expect Monroe to continue to improve his game for the next 4 years which is the longest we can sign him for. At age 24 LaMarcus was still a quite valuable player and Monroe's stats stack up superior.
Monroe is a good player and I wouldn't be upset getting him. But I would really like to have him paired with Aldridge. The spacing on the floor with Aldridge and Monroe is a perfect storm because they can impact the game in different areas. We would be weaker defensively, but our offense would have a huge boost efficiently IMO.
I want to see Batum in a sign and trade for Monroe; bring back all our other free agents. We'd let Gee and Freeland walk. With Kaman as the 5th big and Wright able to be a small ball 4 theres just no need for Freeland. We'd need to target a SF with the MLE. I'd look at Aminu, Crowder, Alan Anderson, Wes Johnson, Tayshaun Prince, Chris Copeland. Might even consider bringing Gee back. Our 1st round pick would be on the roster too but not expected to have a role as a rookie. Our depth chart would be: Monroe - Lopez - Kaman LaMarcus - Meyers Wes - Wright - MLE AAA - CJ - Crabbe Dame - Blake - <Frazier or vet min> That front court is devastating! CJ and Damian provide ball handling and penetration. AAA and Wes can handle the wings.
That's an extremely undersized wing corps... And you only have 2 guys that can effectively attack the rim and they're 6-3 and 6-4... If you get rid of Kaman and AAA and get a SF that attacks and a better backup PG then your plan is golden
Kamans the 3rd string center in that depth chart really just there for injuries, you must despise him. Lopez would be the primary big man backup and can give a different defensive look than Monroe or LMA. Lopez has struggled at time as a big minute starter but as a sub he would be exceptional. I said we'd need to use the MLE on a SF but your not going to find a great one at that price point. Wes often guarded the more physical SF anyways he is fine at that spot. Afflalo can be a very productive role player in my opinion and since we would be over the cap bringing him back has no opportunity cost. The key is Neil getting him on a fairly priced contract. With Batum gone and Wes recovering from injury he'd have a major role and be excited to stay. Yes in an ideal world we'd keep Batum or upgrade SF but we only can do so much; brining in Monroe is worth that cost in my opinion. Crabbe may be effective at SF, our MLE SF addition may surpass expectations, or Wes and AAA may prove to be good enough. Overall it's an amazing group.
Who is this SF? If he is the 3rd, 4th or 5th offensive option behind LaMarcus and Dame hitting open threes is critical. Of course we want good defense. So you want a player that can shoot threes, penetrate and defend? Players are not going to be good at everything. I think Stotts will be able to setup a very good to great offense with any SF that can shoot. Dame and CJ both penetrate well. Wes, AAA can both post up smaller players, and much better than Batum. Not allowing defenses to stick weak defenders on Batum will help Dame. Monroe can score efficiently inside. Of course we will miss some of the strengths of Batum but we won't have his weaknesses. An exact replacement of his skill set isn't available and is not needed.
Afflalo won't have a smaller defender on him if he's playing SF, so he won't be successful posting up. Another part of his game is one dribble and pull up jumper over his defender, he'll struggle with that against SFs... If he and Wes were on the court they would most likely out the SF on AAA. Luol Deng, Khris Middleton, Gerald Green are guys I'd look at (Greens the cheapest option) But you'd most likely pursue one via trade. Kamans non guaranteed contact is valuable and you could work something around that for a team trying to clear cap space adding this years draft pick if necessary.
Deng will want at least $10 million a season which he is guaranteed if he doesn't become a free agent and he can't shoot threes so he wouldn't fit the offense well. We'd likely have to match salary in a trade where Batum is the only option, that would be a downgrade. Middleton will be matched by Milwaukee just like Kawhi or Butler and isn't available but I do like him. Gerald Green is a terrible teammate and ball hog I don't want him or Evan Turner on the roster even as a 15th man. We are much better off with CJ or even Crabbe playing those minutes. It sounds great in theory to say acquire SF that has skill x,y,z but when you come up with actual names and the realistic cost of acquiring them it's far more difficult.
CJ playing SF minutes? Haha... Crabbe??? That last was conditional more so the type of guys we need. I think Turner would fit with our bench guys well.. Is also easy to settle for a guy that doesn't fit like Afflalo and convincing yourself you can contend.
Turner is a cancer who needs to be the center of an offense to do anything. If Turner is the main part of your offense you got major personnel issues. Why would you want to play CJ at SF? I would play him at PG or SG with Wes, AAA, Crabbe, Wright at SF. We were undefeated 5-0 with LMA, Wes, AAA playing together and those two looked great at the end of games as the SG/SF duo in small ball lineups. If we can't trade Batum to acquire Monroe then just stick with Nic at SF. I'm a big Monroe fan so the SF questions are far less of a concern than the giant upgrade Greg would give our front court.
