Greg Monroe Chooses Boston Celtics over New Orleans Pelicans

By Noriel See, Christian Post Contributor Saturday, February 03, 2018

The New Orleans Pelicans would have loved to see Greg Monroe play alongside perennial All-Star Anthony Davis after they lost DeMarcus Cousins to a season-ending Achilles tendon injury. Unfortunately, the veteran center has decided to join a contender that has a better chance to make a run deep into the playoffs.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that Monroe has agreed to sign a one-year, five million dollar contract with the Boston Celtics once he clears waivers this weekend.

"While the Pelicans could offer only Monroe $2.2 million for the balance of the season, the chance at a starting job -- in his childhood hometown -- still made for a compelling case with Monroe. But he ultimately chose the Celtics' ability to offer him more money based upon carving $5 million out of its $8.4 million disabled player exception awarded with the season-ending injury to Gordon Hayward," Wojnarowski wrote in his report.

Monroe will give the Celtics the interior scoring presence they desperately lacked this season, and he is an excellent rebounder as well. The Celtics reportedly did not make any guarantees over his role and playing time, but he will likely see significant minutes behind Al Horford and Aron Baynes. "He's well-respected around the league so that goes a long way. I think he's going to be a great piece for us going forward," forward Marcus Morris said of Monroe, via ESPN.

Monroe started the season with the Milwaukee Bucks, and he was shipped to the Phoenix Suns in November as part of the Eric Bledsoe trade. The former Georgetown University standout actually did quite well with the Suns, but he only played sporadically because of the logjam at the center position. Monroe was waived by the Suns on Feb. 1.

In spite of the limited playing time, Monroe averaged 10.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 25 games with the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks this season. He also shot 60.1 percent from the field and 66 percent from the free-throw line.