Doesn't fit our style of play at all, potentially ruins our cap space in summer. Also the rebounding thing is not such a big deal. The way we play means the guards get more involved in the rebounds while the big men box out. It isn't a reflection on the individual, it's a team effort
It's a huge deal. If we were capable of rebounding the ball better; I'm sure that we would win games more comfortably than we are seeing right now. Those second chance baskets are killing us, which we e.g. saw against Chicago.
But I agree, Monroe doesn't fit our playing style. We must hope that Olynyk manages to solve some of our problems in the rebounding department.
In the post-game press conference, Brad said that strong rebounding by our guards is "the way we have to play" as a result of our personnel. So the answer is yes, we need better front-court rebounding. However, Greg Monroe is not the guy, unless he can develop a 3-point shot.
big guys don't need a 3 point shot. Somewhere on here I posted the top 15 qualified players for rebounding from last year. Only like 3 had more than 1 3 point shot a game. This notion that all big men must shoot is just nonsense that isn't borne in reality.
It is the trend in the "pace-and-space" NBA, and also happens to be what Brad would like for his system. We already have Olynyk and Horford as big men who can shoot the 3. Porzingis obviously shoot the 3, but even Boogie is starting to take three's. It started with the stretch-4, and now stretch-5 will become more common too.
It's a perceived trend, not an actual one. The top 10 qualified rebounders last year were in order: Drummond, Jordan, Whiteside, Howard, Cousins, P. Gasol, Gobert, Towns, Davis, Randle. Only Towns and Cousins shot at least 1 3 pointer and only Howard and Gasol are past their prime. The next 5 were Love, Gortat, Green, Pachulia, Valanciunas. Green and Love the only "shooters". The next 5 were T. Young, Millsap, T. Thompson, Vucevic, Monroe. Only Millsap was a shooter (though Young has shot more in the past, he didn't last year). Next 5 must have a bunch of shooters: Chandler, Faried, Aldridge, Sullinger, Durant. So you get your 1st non-big in Durant and Aldridge and Sully, but not Chandler and Faired. The next 5 and rounding out the top 30 were: Favors, Kanter, Noel, Biyombo, Lopez (who was tied with Westbrook and Randolph). So of the big men not a single shooter in the group. So of the top 30 big men rebounders last year (i.e. no Durant or Westbrook) only 7 shot at least 1 three pointer a game last year. There is no new trend where big men are shooters. Some guys have that range, but some big men have always had more range and better touch than other big men. This is nothing new.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but basing whether or not stretch bigs are becoming the norm on the top rebounders doesn't make any sense. Obviously most of the top rebounders aren't going to be good shooters - being a good shooter is generally going to lead to fewer rebounds, but that doesn't necessarily make you a worse big. If you sort by BPM (a better representation of their overall impact) instead of rebounds, the top 10 last year were:
1. Draymond Green (stretch big)
2. Paul Millsap (stretch big)
3. Nikola Jokic (stretch big by 1 3pa/game criteria)
4. Andrew Bogut (not a stretch big)
5. Tim Duncan (not a stretch big)
6. Al Horford (stretch big)
7. Pau Gasol (barely misses 1 3pa/game criteria)
8. Rudy Gobert (not a stretch big)
9. Deandre Jordan (not a stretch big)
10. David West (not a stretch big)
This paints a much different picture of stretch bigs on the NBA. Instead of 7/30, you're looking at 4/10, or 5/10 if you consider Pau Gasol to be a stretch big.
Picking rebounds makes it a bit disingenuous - you may as well say that point guards aren't a threat from behind the 3 point arc because only 9 of the top 20 in assists are above league average in 3 point percentage. You might be right, but the bias in your sample makes it impossible to tell.
The best way to tell would be to look at the percentage of minutes at center played by stretch bigs and compare it to years past, but I don;t know how to find that data