Warriors Might Want to Move Monta Ellis

by Chris Alvino on August 30th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com hears that the Warriors might be looking to trade away PG Monta Ellis.  With Stephen Jackson looking for a way out, Fisher believes that there might be potential for a tandem trade.

Last season, Ellis missed a lot of the season while recovering from an ankle injury.  He averaged 19 ppg and only 3.7 apg.  He is set to enter the second year of a 6 year, $66 million.

Last summer, Monta Ellis was a hot commodity on this site.  Knicks fans salivated at the idea of Monta Ellis running circles around opponents in the Mike D’Antoni high-paced system.  I was one of those fans.

However, I am no longer in that boat.  Ellis is not a great three point shooter, and he is more of an undersized SG than a PG.  At $11 million per season, Ellis is just simply not the player that the Knicks need.

Looking at the Warriors’ roster, it is not a surprise as to why they would look to trade away Ellis.  As I noted above, his contract is brutal.  Second, the team is loaded with guards.  The team just drafted Stephen Curry (haven’t written that name in a while), traded for Speedy Claxron and Acie Law, and figures to bring back CJ Watson.

Ellis has the potential to be a stud in the NBA.  I said that last summer and I will say it again now.  However, his contract is hard to ignore.  If he is available, he is not worth bringing here.  The same goes for Stephen Jackson.  He is a good player, and one that I would like to see on the Knicks.  However, he has a bad contract and he is not going to lead the Knicks to a title.  Pass.

About Chris Alvino

Chris Alvino grew up in Crestwood, NY. He graduated from Regis High School in 2005. There he played both basketball and baseball. Chris is currently a student at Boston College, where he practices with the varsity Women's Basketball Team (... seriously). Chris has been a Knicks' fan for years and can literally talk about them all day long, every day of the week. Chris enjoys writing on this blog and seeing what everyone out there has to say about it. View all posts by Chris Alvino →
  • KBT1615

    If they are so overloaded with guards why not go after Azubuike?

  • Bart

    NY is kinda in a box with the 2010 situation we can only bring in a hand full of players because of the cap situation and we have to get rid of Curry and Jefferies it kinda sucks, I agree that he has a bad contract but hes really really good and as a PG hes a extremely explosive if he can improve his PG skills and 3pt shooting and stay off mopeds he can be one of the best PG’s in the league. For 11 mil per i’ll pass too.

  • Bart

    Monta Ellis Highlight Reel

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8yZF1HWnzM

  • KBT1615

    We can get him and be under the cap he just kills 2010 with Curry and JJ here.

  • KBT1615

    BUT Lebron and Monta sounds good to me.

  • BiggieSmalls

    Lebron and ANYONE sounds good.

  • dino2008

    I would MUCH rather have Ramon Sessions at 4 or 5 million per than Monta at 11 million per…. you can basically lock up D Lee and Sessions in the same amount of money you would pay to just have Ellis.

  • KBT1615

    no lee wants 9 or 10 and Sessions wants 4 or 5….so yeah.

  • dino2008

    what Lee wants isnt what he is necesarilly going to get. I think Dlee would settle for 8 million per and Sessions for 4, so basically it would be 12 million for the two versus 11 million for Ellis. D Lee is worth 8 million IMO, no one is offering him 9 or 10 and no1 will ever offer him that kind of money.

  • joetheknick

    I do not understand why there is not more interest in a JJ & Lee trade for Acie Law, Brandan Wright and Stephen Jackson. While Jackson has length on his contract, he is a quality player who is very tradeable. (Unlike JJ and Curry who have limited value at best). If we are going to move JJ and Curry we have to give something (Lee) to get something. Here you could be picking up 2 first round rookie contracts. I am banking on Nelson being a little fickled. Your thougths!!

  • dino2008

    It would be hard to trade JJ for an expiring contract at the deadline. Donnie will probabbly be able to package JJ with Nate or other player of value such as DLee or Al if that is what he has to do in order to get him off the books for 2010. I like your scenario but I would rather just stick to the plan because Jackson does have a pretty big contract although he is a very nice player. I would like Donnie to bring back Nate, Lee, and sign Sessions and to worry about moving JJ and eddy after the season starts because in the case of JJ i really don’t think it will be that hard if you include nate. Sessions is what we need at the point!

  • dino2008

    meant to say it will NOT be hard to trade JJ

  • Myles A. Mills

    I can’t describe how fast I would do that, Joe.

  • joetheknick

    I agree. I too am happy to stick with the plan. I suspect that management is not convinced Sessions is our future but I could be wrong.

  • Its The Kid

    I watched Stephen Jackson alot last year and he is a nut in my opinion… Yes he can pass and does at times but its Allen Iverson or Marbury type passing… Only when he is double or triple teamed and cant get a shot off… His shot selection stinks… He and Al are kindred spirits…

    Dont want that dude on this team, playing 7 sec or less… He needs to be on a team with a strong coaching personality… Like the Lakers or the Spurs other than that, I’m good…

  • joetheknick

    Jackson has had some bumps in the road over his career but he is not a bad guy or a bad teammate. He knows how to play the game. You don’t find too many players of his quality at his salary. Reminds me of Ron Artest. His emotions have limited his earnings power. I would take Jackson in a heartbeat. He helped San Antonio win a championship. Just my opinion. Besides I would love to have Acie Law and Brandan Wright in the lineup. Cannot have too much talent.

  • josh h

    Is Carlos Arroyo still available? We should go after him, he was a stud for the Puerto Rican team. He would strive in the SSOL style that D Antoni preaches, and he would be cheap. As far as Stephen Jackson goes, i would not mind having him. He plays his heart out, and is used to this up tempo style of play after playing for Don Nelson. he would be great to play along with his buddy Al, and he can score and pass. By the way, i would just like to say something about the coaching staff. Why do we still have Herb Williams as an assistant coach? He is awful, he has done nothing with our bigs at all. We should have hired Ewing when we had a chance, but now were stuck with useless Herb who doesnt do sh*t.

  • Dave the Rave

    Monta Ellis is too sensitive a kid to handle the limelight in NYC, and his contract is killer, not to mention his surgical ankle and his poor defense. He is no point guard. I think there’s no chance of anyone taking him.

    Stephen Jackson can be awesome but he is moody and slows the game down too much at times. And he is really a small forward and the Knix don’t need another.

    Nellie is an old nut. He’ll probably retire during or after the season, depending on how bad the Warriors do. Why he is down on Ellis I don’t understand. He should just let him run and score. Injuries wiped them out last year and they seem fragile and in disarray, but they have a ton of talent. Biedrins is a real weapon if he says healthy.

    Azubuike has shown brilliant signs, almost like a clone of Joe Johnson, but he does not seem made up to be a star starter for some reason, but he’s a nice backup shooting guard.

    DTR in Northern California but from New Jersey

  • KBT1615

    Lee and JJ for Monta or Captain Jack