Milwaukee Bucks forward/center Greg Monroe has exercised his $17.88 million player option for the 2017-18 season, meaning that he will remain with the team for at least one more year. Monroe will become an unrestricted free agent in the 2018 off-season.
Shams Charania of The Vertical broke the news Wednesday morning:
Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe plans to opt-in on his 2017-18 deal for $17.88 million, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 21, 2017
Greg Monroe Exercises Option to Remain With Milwaukee Bucks
Monroe originally signed his three-year, $50 million contract with the Bucks back in July 2015. Now that he’s picked up his option, the final year of his deal will pay him $17.88 million.
Monroe averaged 11.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game last season for the Bucks. In his first year coming off the bench exclusively, he provided quite a spark as a go-to low-post scorer and solid passer out of double-teams. He led the Bucks in field goal percentage this season with a mark of 53.3 percent, and was second on the team in rebounding. That’s notable, considering he only played 22.5 minutes per game. He was even more effective in Milwaukee’s first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors, with averages of 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds. He also led the team in plus/minus.
Going forward, Monroe will continue to be a very good second-unit scoring option for Milwaukee. Monroe is an unselfish player offensively, and he does quality work in cleaning the glass on the defensive boards. The Bucks will trust Monroe to keep playing with veteran savvy on both ends in order to help them reach the playoffs again next season, or perhaps even contend for homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference.
Monroe is going into his eighth season in the NBA, during which he’ll be 27 years old. He’s played for the Bucks for the last two years. Before that, Monroe played for the Detroit Pistons, who drafted him seventh overall in 2010.
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