Earlier today Greg Monroe shocked the basketball world when he signed a maximum level contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Many wondered why Monroe, a former star at Georgetown, opted to sign with the small-market Bucks when he could have signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks who were said to be offering Monroe an equally large max contract.
Only they didn’t.
That’s the word from Yahoo Sports who reports neither the Lakers nor the Knicks were willing to offer Greg Monroe the maximum contract he desired.
Monroe plans to join a young core of talent with the Bucks, who made a strong commitment to Monroe after the Los Angeles Lakers and Knicks didn’t offer full maximum contracts, league sources said.
It’s a little odd that neither basketball franchise was willing to offer such considering in the grand scheme of things, the additional money and years probably weren’t that much.
For what it’s worth, Greg Monroe is said to have signed with the Milwaukee Bucks because he feels they’re better equipped for a playoff run than either the Lakers or Knicks (hard to blame him for such a sentiment) but truth be told, it probably comes down to money in the grand scheme of things.
Update:
Greg Monroe’s agent says such a report is not true and his client was indeed offered a max contract by the Knicks and Lakers.
