5. Greg Monroe
Idealistically speaking, Greg Monroe is the player that makes the most sense for Miami to acquire.
Bosh is injured and McRoberts is likely out for the season. That means two projected big men are sidelined for the Heat, which forces Miami to start Andersen and Williams at center and power forward.
No offense to those players, but the Heat aren’t going to win many games if those two are playing the majority of minutes together at the big positions.
Monroe is a talented young center playing for a hapless Detroit Pistons squad. At just 24 years of age, he has averaged at least 15 points per game over the past three seasons. He is a career 51 percent shooter from the field and represents a true mold of what a team wants out of a center.
While Bosh is a talented offensive force, he relies heavily upon mid-range and long-range jump shots to score his points. That is not the case with Monroe, who does virtually all of his damage from within the paint. 92 percent of his shot attempts come from within eight feet, in comparison to Bosh’s 26 percent rate of shot attempts from within that range.
Bosh also relies more upon ball movement than Monroe, who has shown an ability to create points for himself. 58 percent of Bosh’s field goals have come off of assists, while just 45 percent of Monroe’s baskets have come off of dimes.
Making matters even more enticing for the Heat is the fact that the 24-year-old center is in the final year of his contract and could even play his way into the franchise’s future plans after this season. In this scenario, the Heat could use the $2.65 million player exception from the McRoberts injury to acquire Monroe.
It could mean the difference between a first-round exit and a deep playoff run for a team that has made it to the past four NBA Finals.
Read: 5 Big Men the Miami Heat Could Trade for This Season
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