Detroit Pistons head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy is not expecting the team to re-sign power forward Greg Monroe this offseason.

Van Gundy told Associated Press that he is "not entirely optimistic" that the Pistons will keep the five-year veteran as Monroe was given the go-signal to try and test free agent waters this summer. However, the two-time NBA All-Star coach clarified that "the door is not closed" for the former Georgetown Hoya to stay with the team.

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"I don't know why people have the notion or the thought that I am just out of here already, like it is one foot out the door," Monroe told The Detroit News. "At the end of the day, I am going to do what any free agent would do. I will listen to everybody and assess it."

The 24-year-old center-forward is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and is rumored to have been aggressively pursued by big market teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks. These illustrious teams are on a rebuilding mode right now, and both have a real need of a big man who can dominate the board and be an anchor on defense.

Monroe seems to fit the bill as he is one of the most wanted soon-to-be frontcourt free agents right now together with Memphis' Marc Gasol, Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge, and Cleveland's Kevin Love.

The 6-foot-11, 250-pound behemoth cleared that Detroit is still the frontrunner to retain his services as he said that the city had been his home for his whole adult life. He said that he is going to listen to the Pistons "with the same ear" as he would listen to anyone else.

Earlier this month, the Pistons traded for a stretch four in Ersan Ilyasova. With that transaction, speculations emerged that the team was preparing for an Andre Drummond-Ilyasova team-up in their starting frontline, which many analysts said would be better than the pairing of Drummond and Monroe.

With that move, it is easy to see why Van Gundy is not looking forward on keeping Monroe in his roster, as per SB Nation.

TagsNBA 2015, NBA news, NBA News 2015, NBA rumors, NBA Rumors 2015, NBA Trade Rumors, NBA trade rumors 2015, detroit pistons, greg monroe, Stan Van Gundy