Bucks Sign Greg Monroe To Max

JULY 9TH, 12:33pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

“The entire Bucks organization is thrilled to welcome Greg to Milwaukee,” GM John Hammond said. “Greg will be a fantastic complement to the talented young roster we’re assembling. The fact that he chose Milwaukee speaks volumes about the culture we’re developing and the bright future we envision for the Bucks.”

“Greg is a skilled low-post scorer and rebounder, and will add a whole new dimension to our young roster,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s just 25 years old and still scratching the surface of his potential. I’m looking forward to helping him develop along with our other talented young players.”

11:40am: Falk strongly denies to Marc Berman of the New York Post that the Knicks didn’t offer the max (Twitter links), and confirms to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that the Lakers and Blazers did, too, with Milwaukee’s playoff-readiness at the heart of Monroe’s decision (Twitter link).

10:37am: The Knicks, Lakers and Blazers also offered the max, as Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck hears, so that’s conflicting information on New York’s offer (Twitter link). The max for three years will be an estimated $50MM, as Wojnarowski pegs it in his full story.

9:20am: It’ll be a three-year contract with a player option on the final season, Wojnarowski tweets. Monroe will be eligible for a higher max bracket in two years, just as the salary cap is projected to reach its peak.

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 2ND, 9:02am: Greg Monroe will sign a maximum-salary contract with the Bucks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The David Falk client was to meet with the Knicks, who long appeared the front-runners for him, as well as the Lakers and Blazers. The Knicks didn’t offer the max to Monroe, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt hears, perhaps explaining why he didn’t end up in New York (Twitter link). He’ll make about $16MM this coming season on a max deal, though it’s not immediately clear how long the contract, which can’t become official until the July Moratorium ends next week, will run.

Milwaukee has reportedly been keen on signing a marquee center, having eyed Tyson Chandler and Brook Lopez, among others, and Monroe, No. 7 on our Free Agent Power Rankings from last month, fits the bill. The Bucks will have to sign him using cap room, meaning his deal will almost certainly become official before Khris Middleton’s reported five-year, $70MM pact does, since Middleton’s cap hold will balloon from $2.725MM to eight figures once he signs.

It’s no surprise that Monroe is leaving the Pistons, as even though Falk and Monroe insisted that Detroit had a shot to keep him, with Monroe going so far as to say the Pistons had the “upper hand” at one point, it seemed a strong bet that he’d leave ever since he signed his qualifying offer from the Pistons last year. The Pistons reportedly offered less than the max when Monroe was a restricted free agent in 2014, so it appears his gamble paid off. I thought he’d at least come close to the max when I examined his free agent stock this past spring.

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