Do you remember the day that Greg Monroe signed with the Milwaukee Bucks? I do. I remember sitting at my table farm which isn’t even a cubicle at my old job. It was a Friday morning. I started to see tweets about the ‘Milwaukee Bucks signing Greg Monroe.’ At the time, there was no talk of a new arena, no Giannis as a superstar, just a team who looked to be on the rise especially after making the playoffs the year prior. Still, Monroe signed with Milwaukee spurning Los Angeles and New York at the time. That never happened. Monroe is now gone, but he was the first non-Buck to usher in the new era.

We can go back and forth all day about if the former first rounder lived up to his contract. I’m not here for that honestly. That’s a very subjective way to think about the player’s time in a city unless they’re either really bad or really good. Case in point if Monroe was an All-Star center, he’s probably underpaid even if Milwaukee gave him a lot of money. If he mailed it in, it’s a horrible deal and good riddance. But Monroe found his stride with the team especially off the bench last season. That will be missed.

All of the sudden for the former Georgetown Hoya, the NBA didn’t fit his game anymore. Gone were the days of a big man plodding in the post, and positionless basketball grew to be a thing. That’s not his fault. There’s no real way he could change his game for the better. Also, Monroe probably never expected Giannis Antetokounmpo to be the star he ended up being for this team. The whole reason Moose wanted to come here was for Jabari Parker, not Giannis.

We’ll see what happens in Phoenix. There are talks the Suns may buy him out then Moose is free to roam to whichever team may inquire about his services. Either way, thanks for choosing Milwaukee, Greg.

Charlie.