Although the Detroit Pistons want Greg Monroe to play in the Motor City beyond this season, he appears to want out and will likely find a new team in free agency.
Monroe never appeared willing to take a new deal from Detroit, no matter how much the team purportedly offered. The 24-year-old ultimately chose to sign the Pistons' qualifying offer, which will make him an unrestricted free agent in July. Although it looks like Monroe will be in a new uniform next season, the Pistons are still hopeful they can convince the big man to re-sign in the summer.
"He's not just a good player, he's a great player," Pistons owner Tom Gores said during media day, via the Detroit Free Press. "We're committed to Greg and he's on our team now and we want Greg to be onboard for a long time and I think we'll have a good enough season where we'll attempt to do that with Greg."
Monroe choosing to risk injury on a one-year contract for the sake of testing the market next summer, along with him declining to accept a deal from the Pistons that would make him the highest paid player on the team, would indicate to most Monroe wants out of Detroit.
"We talked to his representatives," Gores said. "I thought it was important to do that. We let him know how much we respected Greg - both as a person and as a player. We kind of put out our case on the table, but ultimately it's Greg's choice. He's got a long future so we'll find a way to be together in that future."
Monroe's decision to play on a qualifying offer will either work out great for him or it will hurt him. If he has an outstanding season, he improves his market value and can demand a bigger payday; if he has a subpar season - or, in the worst case scenario, injures himself - he'd likely have to settle for even less money than Detroit was willing to offer.
