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Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops reports that the Milwaukee Bucks are aggressively shopping big man Greg Monroe leading up to the 2016 NBA Draft, and NBA Free Agency in July.
Sources: Bucks are shopping Greg Monroe hard. He's owed $17.1 million next season and has a $17.8 million player option for 2017-18 season.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) June 20, 2016
Monroe has been linked to the Trail Blazers for the past 12+ months. Last year, the Trail Blazers management and owner Paul Allen met with Monroe and his representation as free agency kicked off and pitched him of the idea of playing alongside LaMarcus Aldridge. They also offered him a max contract.
The Trail Blazers were also linked to Monroe at the trade deadline this past year. At the time, the prevailing wisdom was that the Blazers would fall out of the playoffs and have a 1st Round draft pick to offer in a deal for Monroe.
Only eight players last season averaged greater than 15 points and 8 rebounds per game while having a usage rate of 22 percent or greater. Of that group only Monroe, Pau Gasol, Derrick Favors and Nikola Vucevic are on a non-rookie wage scale deals. Of that group Monroe has the highest valued contract. Favors is heading into year 3 of a 4-year $45m deal, Gasol is heading into free agency, and Vucevic is in year 3 of a 4-year $53m deal.
On a monetary note, Monroe’s $17.1m on the books next season accounts for roughly 18.2 percent of the total cap space. For a rough comparison of his production compared to elite NBA big men, here is a 2015-16 statistical review from Basketball Reference.
[Thanks to cavejunctionblazer for posting this in the Fanshots]