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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Pistons sign first-round pick Greg Monroe

The Detroit Pistons signed first-round draft pick Greg Monroe on Tuesday. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The NBA has a rookie salary scale in place and the No. 7 pick is slotted to earn $2.3 million in the first season. The actual contract can range between 80-120 percent of that amount.

Detroit selected Monroe seventh overall in the first round of the NBA Draft. The 6-foot-11 Monroe averaged 16.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks for Georgetown last season as a sophomore.

Monroe had 14 double-doubles last season and was named to the Big East all-tournament team after averaging 19.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and shooting 54.5 percent on his way to leading the Hoyas to the championship game.

The Pistons are hoping Monroe will bolster a thin frontcourt that was a weak spot last season as Detroit finished the season 27-55 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Monroe can play either power forward or center and will likely see time at both.

“We think he’s a guy that can come in and help us right away,” Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said on draft night. “Whether he starts or not, we can’t tell until he gets here.”

Expectations are high for Monroe, who is the Pistons first lottery pick since Darko Milicic.

“When you have a pick at seven, that seven is going to have responsibilities a lot of other picks might not have,” Pistons coach John Kuester said on draft night.

Detroit will get a chance to see Monroe in action on Friday when the Pistons open up summer league play against the Lakers. The game can be viewed on NBA TV at 8 p.m.

Monroe will be joined on the summer league team by second-year players Jonas Jerebko, Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers as well as second-round pick Terrico White, among others.

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