Why The Celtics Should Target Greg Monroe
Greg Monroe has reportedly become available in trade talks. Could the Celtics be the best place for him?
With Russell Westbrook signing a three-year deal to extend his time in Oklahoma City, it’s time for the Celtics to look towards other possible trades. One name I’ve heard come up quite a bit in relation to possible Celtics trades was Jahlil Okafor. While the Philadelphia 76ers have made it clear that Okafor is available, they’ve also made it clear that they aren’t giving him up for cheap or even a slight discount.
I recently was able to catch up with a good friend of mine, Jon Kelly, who is a Philadelphia 76ers contributor at thesixerssense.com. He assured me that in order to get Okafor, the Celtics would have to part with either Avery Bradley or Jae Crowder. Seeing as the points per game averages for those three players are similar, its clear to me that Bradley and Crowder’s defensive abilities are too valuable to give away for an unproven defender such as Okafor. Clearly, Danny Ainge is interested in Okafor’s skill set. However, it’s also clear that these two teams aren’t able to come to an agreement or Okafor would already be in Boston.
What if there was a player out there who has a very similar skill set to Okafor’s, that the Celtics could possibly get a better deal on? I would think Danny Ainge would be all over that. I say, look no further than Milwaukee Bucks‘ center Greg Monroe.
When comparing Okafor and Monroe one can’t possibly deny some similarities. For example, both are excellent scorers in the low post. Okafor averaged 17.5 points per game in his rookie season, Monroe’s highest points per game average for a season was 16 points per game in 2012-2013.
A slight edge would have to be given to Okafor in the scoring department for now, but for what Monroe gives up in scoring to Okafor he makes up in rebounding. Before this past season with the Bucks where Monroe played only 29 minutes per game – lowest since his rookie season – he only failed to average less than nine rebounds per game once and that was in his rookie season.
Translation, Monroe is dominating on the glass. Another similarity can be drawn at both players’ defensive deficiencies. Seeing as Brad Stevens was able to make Kelly Olynyk into a capable defender, I have no issues with adding Monroe. Another thing that impresses me every time I watch Monroe play is his passing ability. It doesn’t show in the numbers, but he has great vision and knows how to hit the open man. I believe that he can be a great addition to the Celtics.
Obviously the allure for Okafor is much greater due to how young he is and his massive upside. However, the true bargain can be found with Monroe. It’s clear the Bucks don’t find him to be a great fit as they phased him out of his featured offensive role and decreased his minutes throughout the season.
As the small ball trend has the rest of the league going small, these low post scoring bigs can be had at an extreme value. Pairing highly skilled big men in Horford and Monroe can give the Celtics a definitive edge over smaller teams ill-equipped to deal with that type of size down low.
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As always we will just have to wait and see what happens, but this trade scenario seems to make most sense to me. If the Celtics are looking to add another scoring big next to Horford, why not make a run at Monroe?