Palace Picks: The Curious Case of Greg Monroe

Every Day, Pistons Palace brings you the reading material you need before you start your day at the office. We bring you the morning’s Palace Picks — Detroit Pistons Links from across the web to get you ready for the day.

Welcome back to Palace Picks, the link dumping article that doesn’t search for planes and conspiracies. I’m sure Dan Gilbert has plenty of company planes landing in Detroit. Think he has LeBron on one of them? All I know is you have to cover the paperwork up as fast as possible.

The King wants his throne back.

Quite frankly my Cleveland Cavalier dears, I don’t give a damn.

Let’s get right into today’s Palace Picks!

The topic of today is Pistons restricted free agent Greg Monroe. First we start with CBS Sports’ Matt Moore who broke down the complicated struggle between Monroe and the Detroit Pistons. He touches on the issues at hand for resigning with Detroit.

"Monroe was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 2010 and for two years, he was supposed to be the future of the franchise. The problem was that the present of the franchise was an epic freaking disaster. You can talk about the Knicks and all of their drama. You can talk about how the Lakers fell apart or the Derrick Rose injury in Chicago.But the Pistons were a whole other deal.We’re talking a player-mutiny, three-coaches-hired-and-fired, total-and-complete-misery, trading-for-Corey-Maggette, withering-seventh-circle-of-basketball-hell deal. There’s the Knicks, who constantly fail under ridiculous expectations with a massive payroll. And then there’s a team full of veterans which staged a revolt against their first-year coach. The Pistons have been bad on a transcendent level, having won 84 games in four seasons."

Hoops Habit’s Michael Dunlap is wondering why Greg Monroe is getting ignored. There are tons of factors, like the contracts of Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James still unclear. And there’s this.

"The first major reason why Monroe has been largely ignored is obvious — he’s a restricted free agent. If he were unrestricted, teams would be chomping at the bit, looking to get a meeting with him. Unfortunately for them, he’s restricted — meaning the Pistons have the right to match any offers that come Monroe’s way."

Dunlap als0 broke down Monroe’s strengths and weaknesses. What makes him a good fit for other teams compared to the Pistons, is that he is better suited defensively to play the center position.

"Yes, I know the major knock on Monroe has been his defensive (in)ability. I’m here to tell you that’s not all it’s cracked up to be. If a team picks up Monroe and plays him at center, they can protect him a bit. The fact is, at the rim, Monroe is very solid. According to Synergy Sports, Monroe was No. 27 in the league in post-up defense. He can defend the rim and act as an anchor…problem is, he’s got a similar ability to move around as an anchor.Against spot-ups (as in when he’s dragged away from the bucket), he was No. 233 in the NBA. That’s beyond horrible and it shows that Monroe is much better suited to play the center position. If he has to shift to power forward, he’s going to face the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love — guys who will TORCH Monroe."

From Greg Monroe to a recent Pistons signing. Vince Ellis at the Free Press has an interesting piece on Cartier Martin, who the Pistons signed at the league minimum to provide depth on the roster.

"He will provide outside shooting, but the No. 1 attraction is Martin’s energy and fire, areas coach Stan Van Gundy says were lacking last season.So it’s a signing to address that weakness."

Bleacher Report writers have been very vocal on whether or not the Pistons can have success with both Josh Smith and Greg Monroe on the roster. Stephen Babb adds his opinion to the mix. He says there’s too many cooks in the kitchen.

"Request or no request, there’s a strong argument to be made that Smith and Monroe can’t coexist. It has nothing to do with their ability to get along and everything to do with basketball itself. This is an on-the-court problem—the kind that a conversation or two won’t smooth over.Smith isn’t a good perimeter shooter. He’s at his best closer to the basket, from the mid-range at the very worst. He also excels in up-tempo situations where his speed and athleticism can overwhelm slower big men.This is not the making of a small forward.At the 3, Smith is faced with quicker defenders who are all too keen to keep him on the wing, far away from the basket.That’s not just a bad situation for Smith. It has ripple effects on the entire team, including Monroe. Given Smith’s limitations from long range, defenders can sag off him and clog the paint—in turn, interfering with Monroe’s own ability to operate from the post or mid-range."

Central Links:

• 8 Points 9 Seconds ponders what it means if the Pacers are shopping center Roy Hibbert.
• Behind the Buck Pass looks at the possibility of acquiring Jeremy Lin from the Rockets.
• Pippen Aint Easy is begging the Bulls Front Office not to pull a Carlos Boozer.
• Right Down Euclid profiles LeBron James amid the rumors of his return.