Is Greg Monroe A Good Fit In New Orleans?

Trade talks continue to swirl between the Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans with a possible homecoming for Greg Monroe on the horizon but uncertainty is preventing a deal from happening.

A lot has been made over the last six months about the Milwaukee Bucks and their efforts to unload their much maligned center Greg Monroe including a potential landing spot with the New Orleans Pelicans via trade.

The framework for a Monroe to New Orleans deal was initially discussed during February’s 2016 trade deadline but neither side decided to move forward in negotiations.

It is unclear how close both sides came to an agreement, but a major part of contention was the uncertainty surrounding Jrue Holiday‘s future.

Holiday had struggled to stay on the court the two seasons prior, but was also in the midst of a successful 2015-16 comeback campaign.

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It put the Bucks and Pelicans in a somewhat precarious position in terms of making a franchise-altering move without having enough information to make an informed decision.

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Fast forward through the 2016 NBA playoffs and trade talks between the two teams have resurfaced.

On the one hand, New Orleans could move Holiday and try to capitalize on his newfound health. On the other hand, the Pelicans risk giving up on a guy too soon that plays a critical position.

Point guard is by far the deepest position in the league, but to expect another as talented as Holiday to simply come along would be incredibly shortsighted.

Of the six teams (Warriors, Cavaliers, Raptors, Thunder, Clippers) to win at least 50 games last season, five had an elite point guard, with the one exception being the San Antonio Spurs and Tony Parker, who has seen his role reduced over the last three seasons.

That is not to say Holiday is an elite guard, but he averaged 17.7 points and eight assists during the 2012-13 season before a stress fracture in his right tibia cost him the majority of the next two seasons.

Holiday also posted 16.8 points and six assists in limited, but structured playing time during his comeback journey last season.

Meanwhile, members within the Bucks organization believe an upgrade at the point guard position is necessary not only in moving the team forward but also finding a better fit than Michael Carter-Williams, who struggles within the confines of a modern-day offensive scheme.

This mindset could enable Milwaukee to take a chance on a player they might otherwise not.

Despite the injury concerns, Holiday makes a lot of sense for the Bucks on paper. The same cannot be said for Monroe and the Pelicans, who already have more than $164 million tied up in the paint for the foreseeable future.

The majority share is committed to Anthony Davis, who signed a five-year, $105 million extension during the 2015 offseason.

New Orleans also gave Alexis Ajinca a puzzling four-year, $20.2 million contract last season and still owe a whopping $43.8 million to Omer Asik over the next four years … which is the second major point of contention in negotiations.

If the Pelicans are to part ways with Holiday, the franchise would only do so if Asik is included in the deal as well.

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The inclusion of Asik would only add to the logjam the Bucks are trying to address by trading Monroe. Not to mention the incentive to absorb a bad contract is very low with Holiday only having one year left and the freedom to leave elsewhere in 2017.

The main reason Milwaukee is trying to unload Monroe is his less-than-ideal pairing with Jabari Parker, but the New Orleans native doesn’t fit with Davis either.

Few players possess the type of defensive range “The Brow” showcases on a nightly basis, but that alone would not be enough to make up for Monroe’s defensive shortcomings.

It would be unreasonable to expect Davis to not only cover up for a lack of a paint presence but then to still maintain enough discipline to get out to shooters in a three-point-centric league.

Davis is more than capable of playing center defensively, but Monroe is powerless when it comes to guarding the stretch 4s that dominate the modern landscape of the NBA.

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The Pelicans’ best bet is to stop trying to make Davis a perimeter player and move him to the center position where he can recapture his 2015 All-NBA First Team form.