Sometime middle of last season I wrote a blog about how Monta Ellis needs to be the man by letting Stephen Curry be the man. What I meant by 
that was Monta Ellis shouldered too much responsibility, either by Don Nelson’s request, who is now aft, or because Ellis felt the need to do so as he signed a large contract and subsequently missed an entire season to injury. And as a result, his efficiency took a dive and his angst of being a ‘Warriors’ resonated throughout most of last season.
Since then, he’s made strides to build a relationship with Stephen Curry. This has been covered extensively for several weeks now. Stephen Curry acknowledged that Ellis approached him and apologized for last year’s training camp remarks. Quite a big step from saying “can’t do it.” We’re not use to professional athletes owning up to mistakes and apologizing for them. Truth be told, I never saw it coming from Ellis. That’s why I’m writing this.
There’s been so much “change” that I have to put that into quotes. It’s been the theme for the Warriors. “A New Beginning.” Joe Lacob, David Lee, Keith Smart. These guys are the face of “change.”
But the biggest change has got to be in Monta Ellis. Everything else seems periphery and logistical. For Monta Ellis, the longest tenured Warrior player along with Andris Biedrins, change happened within himself. To say all the other changes didn’t impact him would be negligent. Much of Ellis’ unhappiness stemmed from dysfunction, turmoil, and bad business decisions. But Ellis has ostensibly taken it upon himself to rein “change,” to lead by example (his own words), and to embrace the player he needs to be for his teammates instead of just being an employee of the Warriors collecting a check. Not that he was that type of player, but to me it seemed like he was trying really hard to justify his salary and lost sight of what type of positive impact he once made as innocent Monta.
It’s noticeable in the way Monta Ellis speaks now. He seems a bit more cerebral on his approach to basketball. Last season he had an aire of Mike Singletary, typically being dismissive and stand-offish. He didn’t want to speak of the past (i.e. didn’t want to answer anything questions about his moped accident). I don’t know if Ellis has been taking speech classes from David Lee, but I’ve never heard him speak with such maturity, thought and articulation. Perhaps it’s just the natural course of getting older (yet he’s still only 24). He’s married and has a child now and speaks of his family very highly. I don’t think Juanika Ellis would pass auditions for Basketball Wives.
There’s still a concern about Ellis despite him saying all the right things in a way we’re not use to hearing. Ellis enjoyed the best PPG average in his career at a great cost to efficiency. He made his team worse because he was a volume scorer—taking possessions away from his team—and a defensive liability. Still, he showed some signs of being a defensive stopper on bigger players and he showed that he was 100 percent back from his ankle injury.
And in defense of his inefficiency, there were too many variables that resulted in last year’s numbers to make a prediction on what type of impact he will have this year. Last year we had Curry’s rookie development, Ellis’ gradual acquiescence of his role as a shooting guard (not a point guard) which hasn’t fully been realized yet, and of course the utterly flawed and injured roster that assigned Corey Maggette as the de facto big man has since been overhauled.
Compound all of that by the misguidance coming from the front office that confused and angered Ellis, there were too many moving parts to say he will replicate his inefficiency this year. It’s a concern but there’s also hope because he’s been efficient in the past and there is “change.”
I’m proud to say Monta Ellis took my advice and became The Man. Not by being a big shot NBA star, but by humility, family, and acceptance.
(Okay, I doubt he read my blog piece but this helps my self-esteem for getting something right for once)
Very nice Doctor!
Thanks for stopping by, Gov!
Now that he’s become more mature, how long will he stay with the team? Carmelo’s still available…
I think Lacob will still consider Monta expendable. The fact remains, he’s an undersized SG. But if he get become efficient again, he’s a pretty good bargain, especially with less years on his contract. Should the Warriors make a move now with assets they have, or wait till their assets (contracts) run their course and use the flexibility to attain a new one through FA? The CBA will determine everything, IMO.
Do Not trade for Melo……we do not need him in the sense that he will choke off the ball movement and flow of this team. While I’d like to hold on to Monta, I think a deal could be made for Iggy. With that being said I think Monta and Curry are primed for a huge season.
The Melo possibility still exists. Since most of the deals that favor Denver hinge on him signing that extension, which means he controls his destination, Denver might just be inclined to get what they can by trading him as-is. What’s the most desirable package GSW could put together for Denver? I don’t know…talent-wise (and to match salaries), it would seem Monta + Biedrins for Melo and JR Smith for example. It would be a one-year rental of Melo and a salary dump. I really don’t like the idea of giving up Biedrins as Lee’s potential lies in him playing the PF position with a true and productive C like Biedrins. Could we make due with a make-shift C rotation, I think so, but it wouldn’t be as cool.
Plus, I think the Warriors really want to see what D. Wright can do.
I think the Warriors are stocking up on bigs because they know Biedrins is valued by several teams (including the Nuggets, who’ve asked about him before). I think Goose/Beans/Dre has a better chance of getting traded than Monta, especially since he seems surlier than Monta at this point (although that could change without Nelson publicly needling him about shooting free-throws underhanded).
Problem: if Brandan Wright can’t stay on the court, with Udoh’s injury the Warriors will need to keep him or they’ll have a tough time with this whole “rebounding” thing they’ve been harping on.
And while Melo isn’t a perfect superstar, what with immature choices he sometimes makes and below-average defense, if you had the chance to build a team around Curry, Monta, Melo, Lee and a bunch of defensive-minded role players, you could at least get to the Western Conference Finals, and every one of those four is under 28. The longer Denver goes without making a deal, the more I think the Warriors have a shot. If Denver’s left with Biedrins, expiring contracts and multiple No. 1′s as the best deal, that’s preferable to letting him go as a free agent.
Not only do the Nuggets fear they’ll get nothing for Melo, Nene is also a FA after this year (he has a player option for 2011 – 2012) so they would be left without a C. And Nene is sure to fetch a bigger salary than what he’s making now, which also happens to be more than what Biedrins gets.
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I see the Warriors being players here, but I also see them having more risk than the Nuggets, if we excuse the trauma of losing their Melo.
They want to get a guy who can be considered a superstar, and there aren’t many available. Melo and Chris Paul are really it, and that’s because they’re both unhappy and come with question marks (maturity/defense for Melo; bad knees for Paul). Lacob and Guber know that waiting for luck in the draft is a bad way to run a franchise, since the worst team rarely ends up winning the lottery, and even then franchise-changing players don’t enter the league every single year.
Still, there’s no reason not to wait Denver out here if trading for Melo is really what they want to do. First, nobody has any idea how this team is going to play with all the new players and a new head coach, especially since the principals are so young. Second, the longer Denver takes to find a trade partner with assets they like, the fewer options they’ll have. They might even get desperate. Should be interesting.
Yes, some are predicting a Melo trade will be closer to the deadline in Feb than right now. Who knows, at that time, maybe Monta’s trade value will be pretty high and they can swing him instead of Biedrins. I’m down to trade one volume scorer for another but I’m on the fence about trading away a productive big man that doesn’t demand the ball.