Physically, Monroe has great size for a PF, with a fairly large wingspan and reasonable, but not great, strength. But he's sorely lacking in mobility/athletic components physically--he's lacking in lateral quickness, overall speed, and especially in leaping ability for a PF, and moreover his conditioning is quite questionable especially with his body fat percentage. But whereas these indicators might indicate that he's a bust, I'm going the other way--I think he has a really high defensive IQ. His defensive impact is palpable, as Georgetown was significantly better defensively with him on the court, and that's in large part due to his great timing: Monroe possesses elite stealing ability and above average shotblocking ability for a center, and is reasonable at controlling his fouls. Certainly he's more of a length athlete than a freak athlete in this respect, and it might be an open question whether his defensive instincts and timing can trump his lack of mobility/athleticism at the NBA level. I do think Monroe might be a tweener defensively initially (not athletic enough against the mobile PFs, not quite strong/large enough against conventional Cs) but like Clifford Robinson, he might develop into a disciplined defender over time, which can be an asset. He's more of a 1990s defender than a 2000s one, that's for sure.
Monroe's offensive impact is merely middling, but he's probably an average offensive player at the NBA level, at best. He shows tertiary-offensive player instincts out on the court with his above average possession rate, but his seriously impeded by what I think is a lack of tricks to score off his own devices at the NBA level. Primarily, he doesn't have a terribly reliable jumpshooting game: he doesn't take too many mid-range J's, and shoots poorly at the ones he takes; there might be slight hope, however, given that he shoots 68% on his free throws. Monroe is largely your conventional post-up player type, as he takes tons of inside shots, but he doesn't finish well here at all, as he's impeded by some lack of refinement as well as the mobility/athleticism issues: he does get to the line at an above average rate, however. Finally, not surprising given his physical tools, he's sorely lacking in athletic markers offensively, not dunking at a prolific rate and garnering very few tip-ins. Monroe's real best asset offensively is his passing game: he's an elite passer for a PF for sure, with court vision, but his ballhandling skills are questionable as he does have turnover problems: anyway, if his offensive game doesn't improve for the NBA, his passing ability won't be an asset whatsoever.
Rebounding-wise, Monroe is middling, but he's a decent defensive rebounder and a poor offensive one.
Overall, I know where those potential "bust" labels of Monroe are coming from, and I also have more than a few reservations: he's really more of a 1990s center than a 2000s one, frankly. Moreover, he's severely impeded by two primary markers, his lack of athleticism/mobility and his lack of jumpshooting ability. Offensively is where, to me, he might actually face the most trouble: there's a chance he might not even succeed much at this level, between his poor jumpshooting and inability to finish his post moves, which would not tap into his elite passing skills. Defensively it's also a slight question mark, as he's not athletic/quick for PFs and not tall enough for certain Cs, but he might succeed here given what I believe are very good defensive instincts. He'll probably have to make his mark defensively in the league first, and if he ever develops a jumper or starts becoming more of a post-scoring threat he can really tap into his elite passing skills and have a huge impact. Ultimately, however, it's hard to see the latter happening in the today's run-and-gun NBA, and he'll probably end up as a defensive PF with a slight post game and good passing ability. He just has built-in limitations that might severely hamper him and generate bust potential, and it's probably not worth exploring that option especially with the 5th pick.
