Greg Monroe is headed to Boston. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Monroe’s brief stint in the free agent pool will come to an end as he decided to join the Celtics. It will mark Monroe’s third team this season, as he started the year as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks and was traded to Phoenix before getting bought out by the Suns earlier this week.
Greg Monroe will sign with the Boston Celtics, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 2, 2018
Wojnarowski reported that Monroe decided to join Boston over New Orleans, which wasn’t able to offer his as much money. Additionally, while the Pelicans were reportedly going to bring Monroe on board as their starting center in the wake of DeMarcus Cousins’ season-ending achilles injury, Monroe decided to head to a place where playing time might not pop up as frequently.
Monroe will sign a one-year, $5M deal with Celtics, league sources tell ESPN. Pelicans could only offer $2.2M.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 2, 2018
New Orleans offered Monroe the chance to be the starting center, but Monroe will join the Celtics with fewer assurances on playing time.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 2, 2018
Monroe should provide an offensive punch to the Celtics’ current pairing at center of Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis. He’s averaging 10.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per game this season, but since joining the Suns, Monroe has seen those numbers jump up to 11.3 points and eight rebounds in 23.3 minutes a night.
It remains to be seen how big of an impact Monroe will have in Boston, but at the very least, he should be able to help the Celtics out on the offensive end of the floor.
