Monroe: One-Yr Deal Doesn’t Mean Detroit Exit

This summer, Monroe did something almost unheard of for a frontline NBA player — he signed a one-year qualifying deal that costs him almost $10 million for this season but makes him an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The obvious implication is that he wants a chance to find a better home after spending his first four seasons with one of the league’s more dysfunctional franchises.

“The Pistons offered me a long-term deal, but after talking it over with the people that are most important — my agent, some friends and my family, I decided to turn it down,” he said.

“It isn’t that I want to get out of the city of Detroit or this area — I have loved it here since I arrived — it is strictly a business decision based on my future as a basketball player.”

via The Associated Press