National Basketball Association

Greg Monroe: Creating A Fit For The Moose In Milwaukee

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Greg Monroe is considered by many an archaic dinosaur or sorts in today’s NBA, but that does not mean the Milwaukee Bucks can’t still make use of his skills — they just have to do so tactfully and conservatively.

When the Milwaukee Bucks signed center Greg Monroe to a three-year deal worth $50 million last summer, most assumed they had found their center of the present and future.

Fresh off of an overachieving campaign, in which the young Bucks made a surprising run into the playoffs, the future was looking bright in Brewtown.

Armed with a ferocious and swarming defense; a young, innovative head coach in Jason Kidd; and a battalion of scintillating long-limbed prospects like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton, Monroe was supposed to fit seamlessly with their core, as his offensive prowess was going to take pressure off of his raw counterparts, while their collective length and activity were going to hide the Moose’s defensive deficiencies.

Things didn’t go exactly as scripted, however, as the Bucks took more than a couple of steps back this past year when they ended up winning 8 games less than the season prior, en route to missing the postseason once again.

More alarmingly, their defensive efficiency — the chief competency the team hung their hats on in 2014-15 — fell off a cliff, allowing nearly 6.5 more points per 100 possessions last season, per Basketball-Reference.

Their defense, which ranked fourth in the association in 2014-15, plummeted to 23rd last season.

Sure, the blame cannot be entirely thrust upon Monroe, as losing level-headed veterans like Zaza Pachulia, Jared Dudley and Ersan Ilyasova most definitely hurt the team’s defensive integrity, but the former Georgetown Hoya’s inherent lethargic nature when defending the pick-and-roll, in addition to his limitations as a rim protector, routinely put the Bucks’ interior in precarious positions.

In many ways, it is a matter of fit. While a perimeter core featuring Giannis, Middleton and Michael Carter-Williams present great length, a 4-5 combo of Parker and Monroe is a contemporary defensive disaster.

Milwaukee has recognized this, as evident by their offseason decision to give Miles Plumlee starting center money.

A big man like Plumlee — a high motor, athletic big who can protect the rim on D and dive aggressively/catch lobs offensively — is theoretically a much better fit with the respective strengths of their primary franchise pillars in Giannis and Jabari.

The Bucks also drafted their new center of the future (or so they hope) in 7’1″ Thon Maker.

With the writing seemingly on the wall, the Milwaukee brass has unsurprisingly put Monroe on the trading block this summer; however, there have been no takers this far

This begs the question: where does the Moose fit with the Bucks’ grand plan going forward? How can the team maximize the plodding big man’s strengths without thwarting the development of their young core?

The answer, in my opinion, is quite simple: bring Monroe off the bench.

It is not that Monroe is not useful. as a back-to-basket, interior-based center still has its place in today’s pace-and-space game. They can be used effectively, but in small doses.

There is no doubting his offensive efficiency is near elite, as he ranked in the top 20 last season in PER among regular rotation players.

Such skills would prove most deadly in a backup capacity, though, as it would enable him to anchor the defense against opposing second units, much the way the Oklahoma City Thunder use Enes Kanter.

Assuming the Bucks bring free agent signee Matthew Dellavedova off the bench as well, his inability to contain pick-and-rolls will be masked to an extent by playing with the pesky on-ball pressure of Delly.

Will Greg Monroe put his sizable ego aside, and accept a diminished, less-celebrated role?

If his time with the Detroit Pistons is of any indication, where backing up Andre Drummond would have been the most sensible setup in their once-crowded frontcourt, the Moose will most likely frown at such a proposal.

This is where Kidd has to make his money and convince him of the greater good.

The case of the Moose, in many ways, represents the divide between the old NBA and the contemporary way in which the game is played today.

However, the differing styles do not necessarily have to mutually exclusive; however, the inclusion of the bruising brand must be approached conservatively.