Report: Greg Monroe to Opt-in for Next Season

And one? It would appear that Greg Monroe’s foul-corralling verbal antics aren’t done quite yet in Milwaukee according to a report from Shams Charania. Monroe reportedly will opt-in to his player option for $17.88 million next season.

Monroe’s potential opt-out date was previously reported to be tomorrow, draft day, so it was inevitable we'd have a conclusion to this either today or tomorrow. The decision gives us a clearer perception of what this roster will look like next season, and may color what sort of player the Bucks opt to draft tomorrow. Perhaps the organization has known about Monroe’s intentions for some time, but newly minted GM Jon Horst stated earlier this week during his press conference that they're taking a wait-and-see approach based on Monroe’s impending decision.

Now that they've reached it, the team will have to determine how they want to handle the center rotation this upcoming year. There's no news on Spencer Hawes decision yet about opting in, but even without him the team will juggle Monroe off the bench, presumably Thon Maker as the starter and the $10.5 million dollar wavy tube man John Henson. Not to mention the fact many mock drafts have pointed to the Bucks selecting one of the many big men that are projecting like the most valuable players near their draft slot.

As covered yesterday in our caponomics Q&A, there aren't too significant of ramifications on Milwaukee’s cap space due to Monroe’s decision. Moose opting out wouldn't have necessarily opened up cap space due to the fact Giannis’ mammoth contract is about to suck up what little they could’ve had. It does however put them closer to the luxury tax for a team that doesn’t seem anywhere near worth paying it right now. They’ll have to tread lightly this free agency given all the team’s quotes point towards the fact they hope to keep Snell around this summer.

Monroe should provide a fitting scoring punch again this year, and the team would’ve likely struggled to fill that void were he to of opted out. Ultimately I think this is probably the best decision for next year’s team given it would’ve been difficult to find a replacement for Moose, however they’ll have to illustrate they’re still prioritizing Maker’s development. While Milwaukee also dangled Monroe for what seemed like ages as trade bait, it’s possible a fringe playoff contender may nibble as the trade deadline nears to help put them over the top. Either way, at least all our favorite Moose gifs won’t have to disappear quite yet.