Milwaukee Bucks reach agreement with Greg Monroe on three-year max contract

Monroe, who spent his first five seasons with the Detroit Pistons, entertained offers from the Bucks, Knicks, Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers before agreeing to a three-year, $50 million maximum contract with Milwaukee.

[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]. He did not play a game for the Suns because of a knee injury and exercised his one-year, $2.17 million option with the team last month.

Too bad both the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers missed out on an opportunity to land Monroe.

The Thunder have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in their prime years while the Spurs have a young rising star in Kawhi Leonard to go alongside their veteran core of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. After Larry Sanders left the team at midseason, Milwaukee filled the hole at center with the duo of Zaza Pachulia and John Henson.

In any case, excitement among fans is very high with the agreement with Monroe coming a day after the Bucks were reported to be finalizing a deal to retain Middleton. Monroe immediately gives the Bucks an offensive and rebounding presence inside.

Just as he was great floor leader as a Hall of Fame playmaker during his National Basteball Association career, he’s also shown tremendous leadership qualities working the sidelines. The team needs to run more, with that roster. As the Bucks look to next season, one main problem they’ll have to overcome is the lack of scoring.

One of their main targets, Greg Monroe, agreed to terms with the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday putting extra pressure on Jackson. He does not have the footspeed nor the length nor the instincts to cover screen and rolls or help out on the interior, and now he’ll be asked to act as the ostensible last line of defense in Milwaukee. Monroe is a center naturally, but was moved to power forward when Drummond was drafted.

Against all odds, not to mention media speculation, the Bucks landed center Greg Monroe to complete what they hope is an athletic young lineup that will grow into a title contender.

He also scored 11.4 per game in the painted area, which ranked fifth in the National Basteball Association.

In choosing the Bucks over the Knicks, Monroe saw a team that was ready to continue winning. To the wrong one, a Monroe max might be cumbersome to the expected parameters of a rebuild. The twins played at Kansas and spent three seasons together in the desert after Marcus was traded from Houston, which selected him with the 14th overall pick of the 2011 National Basteball Association draft. Hardly chump change, but nowhere near what he’d make accepting the Pistons’ extension offer or money from another team.

Now he’s got Monroe who also received a max offer from the Knicks. He has never reached the playoffs since he started playing for the Detroit Pistons back in 2010.