Greg Monroe to the Milwaukee Bucks was the offseason move that just made perfect sense.
Milwaukee Bucks 2015 roster: Greg Monroe meets win now, win later criteria
The Bucks are incredibly young and still can be a terror in the Eastern Conference with their size and athleticism.
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For Monroe, he desperately needed out of Detroit. While the Pistons had waived Josh Smith, they still were committed to the future with Andre Drummond, and Monroe's pairing with him just wasn't the right fit. Milwaukee, on the other hand, has needed a center to add to the young core they've developed. Last season, the Bucks throttled opposing offense but struggled to score themselves. Monroe's presence adds interior scoring this team needs and puts them in position to repeat or improve on last year's finish, sixth in the East.
There’s still questions, particularly about putting enough shooting onto the floor, but the beauty of signing Monroe is that he’s only 25, making him the oldest player in the starting unit. There’s plenty of time for Milwaukee to figure it out, even as they aim for home court advantage this year.
LAST YEAR
RECORD: 41-41(6th in Eastern Conference)
PLAYOFFS: Lost 4-2 to Chicago Bulls in the first round
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 101.5 (25th)
DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 99.3 (2nd)
ROSTER
No. | PLAYER | POS | HEIGHT | WEIGHT | AGE | COLLEGE |
| 3 | O.J. Mayo | SG | 6-5 | 210 | 27 | USC |
| 5 | Michael Carter-Williams | PG | 6-6 | 190 | 24 | Syracuse |
| 9 | Chris Copeland | SF | 6-9 | 239 | 31 | Colorado |
| 11 | Tyler Ennis | PG | 6-3 | 194 | 21 | Syracuse |
| 12 | Jabari Parker | SF | 6-8 | 250 | 20 | Duke |
| 15 | Greg Monroe | C | 6-11 | 265 | 25 | Georgetown |
| 18 | Miles Plumlee | C | 6-11 | 249 | 27 | Duke |
| 19 | Jerryd Bayless | PG | 6-3 | 200 | 27 | Arizona |
| 20 | Rashad Vaughn | SG | 6-6 | 202 | 19 | UNLV |
| 21 | Greivis Vasquez | PG | 6-6 | 217 | 28 | Maryland |
| 22 | Khris Middleton | SF | 6-8 | 234 | 24 | Texas A&M |
| 31 | John Henson | PF | 6-11 | 229 | 24 | North Carolina |
| 34 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | SF | 6-11 | 222 | 20 | |
| 77 | Johnny O'Bryant III | C | 6-9 | 257 | 22 | LSU |
Coach: Jason Kidd
Assistant coaches: Greg Foster, Tim Grgurich, Eric Hughes, Josh Oppenheimer, Joe Prunty, Sean Sweeney
OFFSEASON CHANGES
IN: Greg Monroe, Greivis Vasquez, Chris Copeland, Rashad Vaughn,
OUT: Ersan Ilyasova, Zaza Pachulia, Larry Sanders, Jared Dudley, Nate Wolters
DEPTH CHART
POINT GUARD | SHOOTING GUARD | SMALL FORWARD | POWER FORWARD | CENTER | |
STARTER | Michael Carter-Williams | Khris Middleton | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Jabari Parker | Greg Monroe |
RESERVE | Greivis Vasquez | O.J. Mayo | Chris Copeland | John Henson | Miles Plumlee |
RESERVE | Jerryd Bayless | Rashad Vaughn | Johnny O'Bryant III | ||
RESERVE | Tyler Ennis |
THE KEY QUESTION
(taken from team site)
PREDICTIONS
BEST CASE: Everything works: Monroe scoring inside, Parker finding his outside shot, Antetokounmpo taking yet another leap, Middleton improving, Carter-Williams turning into a young facsimile of his head coach. While Milwaukee isn't good enough to compete with the Cavaliers yet, they push for a top four seed and look to be just a year or two away from dominating the East.
WORST CASE: It quickly becomes evident that Milwaukee will have to jettison at least one of their starters to find a viable core. Parker and Antetokounmpo don’t develop as shooters while Middleton can’t quite keep up after his career year. Monroe’s interior defense is a worse downgrade than expected and the Bucks can only nab one of the final two playoff spots this season.
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