New York Knicks met with Greg Monroe at midnight

NBA free agency is now officially upon us.

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On the heels of a highly successful or terrible (depending on who you ask) draft, the New York Knicks now turn their attention to this year’s crop of free agents. From Greg Monroe to Arron Afflalo, the Knicks will be looking to spend most, if not all of the $27 million dollars they have available.

But who are they targeting?

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks paid a visit to Greg Monroe at midnight. Berman mentioned that Phil Jackson, Steve Mills (General Manger), Jamie Matthews (V.P. of Operations), and Derek Fisher were all part of the meeting.

Midnight with Monroe: #Knicks have D.C. summit with Pistons big man, have meetings in LA with DeAndre-Aldridge http://t.co/PWiPhxODSq
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) July 1, 2015

A career 14 and 9 player, Monroe has averaged between 15 and 16 points per game in his last four seasons with the Detroit Pistons.

A large part of the Knicks’ interest in Monroe stems from their desire to further implement Jackson’s triangle offense, something they tried (and failed) to do last year. The triangle offense relies on a center that can not only score, but also be able to knock down a jumper, as well as kick it out to open teammates.

The only downside to this (because there are always downsides), is that Monroe isn’t viewed as a max player. Either that, or our idea of what constitutes a max player has changed over the years.

Therein lies the problem. If Monroe wants a max deal (and all signs point to him wanting one), it doesn’t leave much room for the Knicks to sign another high-profile player. In other words, any dreams of bringing Arron Afflalo to New York goes down the drain.

By all means, if the Knicks feel as though Monroe is their guy, they should try to lock him up as quickly as possible. After all, it does not seem as though DeAndre Jordan or LaMarcus Aldridge are likely to end up with the Knicks.

At this point, the Knicks would hate to relive the horrors of the summer of 2010, where they were only able to bring Amare Stoudemire to “The Big Apple.” Striking out this time around, is not an option.

Knicks fans demand excellence. While signing Monroe wouldn’t solve all of the problems, it will help set up a great foundation for the team.

Next: Who is the best Knicks' PG of all-time?

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