Suns GM McDonough: Greg Monroe could be in uniform Thursday

There was doubt as to whether center Greg Monroe would ever play for the Phoenix Suns after arriving from the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eric Bledsoe deal.

On a $17.8 million expiring contract, waiving Monroe is an option for the Suns. On top of that, the Suns already have Tyson Chandler and Alex Len playing at center.

The additional layer was Monroe working his way back from a calf injury, delaying the reveal of if he would ever suit up for the team.

Monroe is nearly back, listed as questionable on the injury report for Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets.

“He went through practice today, I guess we’ll evaluate how he is tomorrow,” interim head coach Jay Triano said of Monroe at practice Wednesday. “It’s still a matter of how much he’s picking up of our stuff and how restricted our playbook is in the game.”

General manager Ryan McDonough said on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Burns & Gambo Wednesday that Monroe could be available to play.

“I think he will be in uniform tomorrow night,” McDonough said, calling playing time a possibility.

Monroe can help the Suns and McDonough went on to detail how he can.

“He’s a very skilled low-post player,” he said. “I don’t think we have a guy like that on our roster who you can throw the ball to on the low block and can go get you a basket or make a play out of the post.”

The 27-year-old big man would provide the Suns not only an interior scoring option, but another scoring option overall. Since the departure of Bledsoe, the team has been heavily relying on Devin Booker and T.J. Warren to carry the scoring load.

In his 2016-17 season that saw him finish sixth in the Sixth Man of the Year voting, Monroe averaged 11.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists a game.

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