Detroit Pistons Rumors: Greg Monroe reluctant to sign $60 million offer

Jan 5, 2014; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) high fives power forward Greg Monroe (10) during the first quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons are less than two months away from the start of training camp and despite head coach, Stan Van Gundy’s best efforts to keep the big man around, Greg Monroe has yet to sign with Detroit, even after a lucrative offer.

The Pistons have presented an offer to their restricted free agent that would make Monroe the highest paid player on the team. Monroe however, is still reluctant to sign on the dotted line.

Here is the latest buzz out of the Pistons camp, per Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press:

"“The Pistons have moved from the initial five-year, $60-million offer and an offer that’s slightly better than the four-year, $54-million deal that Josh Smith signed last summer is on the table.But the offer to make him the highest paid player on the roster hasn’t brokered an agreement. And negotiations aren’t ongoing.”"

This is huge considering it is the first time any real numbers have been thrown around regarding Monroe. The only reported previous hint we’ve had regarding negotiations were that the team was trying to structure a deal “in the range of” the Marcin Gotat deal, who signed with the Wizards for five years and $60 million.

Monroe’s lack of urgency to sign the offer could mean one of two things.

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It could simply be Monroe’s agent David Falk knowing what offer is on the table and doing his due diligence around the league to make sure there are no better offers to be had, either straight up or through a sign-and-trade.

Or, it could mean that Monroe is indeed uninterested in coming back to the Pistons.

If Monroe is truly ready to move on then a sign-and-trade would have to happen. There were discussions with the Blazers early in the process and Yahoo! Sports reported recently that brief discussions with Suns and Hawks didn’t gain traction. That’s probably because the Pistons are placing a premium on Monroe that teams so far have proven unwilling to pay.

The threat is still there for Monroe to sign the $5.4 million qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next season. That’s not expected, but the deadline is Oct. 1.

What are your thoughts? How do you see this situation culminating?