Ellis’ Worth
By Sonet Yee
While the latter part of the season is set to begin, the trade deadline is inching its way closer and closer. And every year, names of guys who are worth of some value will get shipped off and shipped out for something that either fits for the team now or fits for the team in the future. In any event, Monta Ellis’ name has come up before and will come again, if it hasn’t already.
The problem for the Warriors is that there are few assets that teams would want to trade for. Besides Ellis, there isn’t much to give other teams, besides another bench player, which the Warriors are full of, but the Warriors wouldn’t get back anything that would be a significant upgrade. I think the last decent trade the Warriors did was acquire David Lee and even then, I thought it was too much money to give to that guy. He was good in New York, but is not a cornerstone that will get that team over the hump type of player.
ESPN has two great blurbs on the effect Ellis has on the Warriors, though you will have to be an insider to read it. In one article, it states that it’s time to cut ties with Ellis. While he seemed like the future, that idea has come and gone. The Warriors need a big man, something they wanted to address this off season by cutting ties with Jeremy Lin (I know, I know! I’ve gone and brought it up again!) and trying to offer money to restricted free agent DeAndre Jordan, hoping that the Clippers wouldn’t match. But they did and they had to sign Kwame Brown, who is now collecting cash on the bench since tearing a muscle. Ekpe Udoh has filled in rather nicely, but he is still too raw and too skinny to do much damage. He is in a good place to get some playing time and make a name for himself. With that said, Ellis still has high value. If the Warriors do trade him, they must look to upgrade in the big man era. Listen, Ellis is a great player, leading the team with scoring. But the fact is, it is hard to play with a guy, (aka Allen Iverson), who doesn’t know how to pass and be a team player. Yes, Kobe Bryant is the perfect example of what a selfish player can do to a franchise, but Kobe has rings and he is the one that threw up that crazy pass to Shaq for the all important dunk over the Kings. Unless Ellis tweaks his game (highly unlikely) his time as a Warrior is coming to a close rather quickly.
That same article says that the Warriors should trade Ellis to New Orleans for Chris Kaman, who was/is unhappy in Nola land. Kaman, while he is no Dwight Howard (which the Warriors are desperately trying to convince to sign a long term in the Bay Area) he is a significant upgrade to any big man we have. In fact, if Kaman was traded here, it would be a much different looking team in a sense that I think he will provide a bakset presence and will be able to have more effective pick and rolls as he can step out and hit a jumper.
And while I ‘ll be the first to say what a great combo backcourt it has been, that ride is over. The backcourt is undersized, under achieved and most importantly, it hasn’t worked. There needs to be some sort of change and now it seems that it is the perfect time to change Ellis for someone else.
Feb. 22, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis (8) shoots against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at the US Airways Center. The Warriors defeated the Suns, 106-104. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-US PRESSWIRE.
Is this guy gone come trade deadline?