Ex-Detroit Piston Greg Monroe joining Raptors; 4th team in a year

Vince Ellis | Detroit Free Press

Former Detroit Pistons big man Greg Monroe started last season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

With the news that he will join the Toronto Raptors on a veteran’s minimum salary, the once-Pistons building block is now on his fourth team within the past year.

Yahoo! Sports’ Shams Charania, who broke the news, reports that Monroe’s deal with the Raptors is worth one season, $2.2 million.

Monroe, 28, was selected seventh overall in the first round by the Pistons in 2010 out of Georgetown.

Once considered the top high school player in the country as a prep star in Louisiana, he was considered the Pistons’ center of the future.

He averaged 14.3 points and 9.2 rebounds in four seasons with the Pistons.

But he was quickly supplanted as the center of the future when the Pistons selected Andre Drummond in 2012.

And the game changed, moving toward a small-ball style that favored big men with quick feet or the ability to make 3-pointers.

And Monroe became disgruntled with the Pistons.

He eventually turned down a contract that would have made him the highest-paid player in franchise history shortly after Stan Van Gundy was hired as team president and coach in 2014.

He signed a one-year qualifying offer, played the final season with the Pistons and signed a three-year, $50-million deal with the Bucks.

But he became a bench player over the course of two seasons with the Bucks.

He was traded in November to the Phoenix Suns, who bought out Monroe in February.

He signed with the Boston Celtics, who advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.

Monroe has a chance to return to the finals with the Raptors, who acquired star forward Kawhi Leonard this offseason.

Monroe will provide frontcourt depth.

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