Stan Van Gundy’s been on the job about six weeks and dealt with a variety of pressing issues: Thursday’s draft preparation, next week’s dive into free agency, meeting with Pistons players under contract and identifying candidates to fill out his coaching and front-office staffs.
But one issue has dominated his landscape: Greg Monroe and his pending restricted free agency.
“Even with free agency and the draft and everything else,” he said, “I’ve spent well over half my time on that whole situation.”
In a Tuesday meeting with the media, the Monroe situation dominated to the same degree. They’ve looked at every conceivable scenario, Van Gundy said, and essentially already decided what they’ll do at every price point should Monroe come to them with an offer sheet from another team. He’s not saying what it is – or whether there’s a number past which the Pistons wouldn’t go – but Van Gundy remains adamant that he values Monroe highly.
“The fair thing to say is we either want him back or we want good value for him,” Van Gundy said. “We absolutely control whether Greg is back here next year. But we can’t necessarily control after next year and so you have to put that into consideration, too. You do have to at least have a plan. If this happens, are we ready? To me, that situation, we know exactly where we’re headed on that.”
Monroe’s options are: