Leave it to Twitter on a Sunday afternoon to break some news.
And of course, it’s related to Pistons big man Greg Monroe.
Monroe sat down recently with Sports Illustrated to talk about his trip to Africa for Basketball without Borders, and shared that he isn’t listening to all the reports and rumors that have swirling around.
Today, Monroe tweeted about what seems to be the biggest rumor of the off-season. He says that the Pistons have not offered him the $60 Million deal that has been reported by various outlets.
The tweet is in response to a glorious heckler on twitter.
"@millerfootball5: Come on @M10OSE how can you reject a 5 year 60 million deal" < cant reject anything that was not offered to me...carry on
— Greg Monroe (@M10OSE) August 10, 2014
No wonder the whole contract issue is at a standstill. Though it isn’t surprising that Stan Van Gundy and company are taking their time with this deal.
Pistons Owner Tom Gores recently spoke to Free Press reporter Vince Ellis about the Greg Monroe situation. Gores made it clear that the organization wants to make sure that he wants to be in Detroit long term.
"Question: The No. 1 topic that has dominated the entire off-season has been Greg Monroe. What are your thoughts on the contract impasse? (Monroe is a restricted free agent.)Answer: “We think Greg is a great player. First of all, he’s done a really great job of establishing himself as a player in Detroit. He’s shown great respect to the city and as a young man he’s really done everything we could ask of him.“With Greg we just believe in him. I’d like Greg to really get excited about being in Detroit because he deserves it. He’s really been good to the city. You’ve seen him. He’s good to the city. Stan is going to have to figure out exactly everybody’s role, but we’re believers in Greg Monroe. He’s not just a great player; he also has a good basketball character. I know it’s been a lot of the off-season stuff, but I’m a believer in Greg Monroe.”"
Gores was also asked about the supposed contract on the table the Monroe is denying has been offered to him.
"Q: There’s a pretty substantial offer on the table (slightly better on a per-year basis than the four-year, $54-million deal Josh Smith signed last summer). Is there any disappointment that it hasn’t resolved itself and he hasn’t taken the offer yet?A: “Of course we would like him to do that, but the fact is Greg has to decide what’s exactly right for him and he has great people representing him. We’d like Greg to get on board, but he’s got time to think about it and we should give him that time.”"
Of course, the true story will unfold over the next few weeks, but the tweet makes you wonder what type of deal if any is really on the table. Or are the Pistons just going to wait it out to the last minute to see if they can find a trade partner before October rolls around.
What are your thoughts?