With news that Monta Ellis may be on the way out of Golden State, I’ve put together a few options for him. They in no way represent any rumors or leads but instead are legitimate scenarios should these teams consider to act upon. Do I believe these teams will do these trades? Not necessarily. But I believe that each move represents a trade-off for all teams involved that would fill team needs for all parties involved.
1. Chicago
Derrick Rose desperately needs another scorer and Ellis is top-of-the-line. Chicago could swap Luol Deng for Ellis and be happy since they’d be getting enough scoring out of Deng to make it reasonable while upgrading defensively and adding veteran leadership under Mark Jackson. Chicago is a top defensive team and their strategy is about buy-in, not individual talent. Losing Deng would not hurt them as much as many people think.
2. Phoenix
Golden State trades Ellis for Michael Pietrus, Josh Childress and a 1st round pick. Ellis fits in perfectly to the Phoenix system and Golden State could add some defensive range at the wing. Though the 1st round pick would make it a little easier to swallow, it’s entirely possible that Golden State sells low and takes an offer like this.
3. Boston
With Danny Ainge announcing before the draft that the entire city of Boston was for sale, Golden State could upgrade their young core with a veteran leader like Allen. Boston would obviously win out by getting much younger at the SG position so it may take a draft pick to pry Ellis away from the Warriors. However, Golden State may have to take what they can get on this one and Allen is a future Hall of Famer.
4. Portland
Portland could trade Gerald Wallace and a 2nd round pick to Golden State for Monta Ellis. They could also three-way it and send Roy and a 1st round pick to Cleveland for LeBron James’ trade exception. Who does this not work for? Ellis gets out, the Warriors get some help on defense, Portland eliminates a redundancy at SF (not to mention keeps Nic Batum) and dumps Roy’s contract. Cleveland gets a possible steal if Roy rebounds next year not to mention a draft pick to rebuild with.
5. New York
This one would be a blockbuster, but the Warriors could trade Ellis, Jeremy Lin and Jeff Adrien to the Knicks. Meanwhile, the Knicks would send Chauncey Billups to the Lakers and Golden State would get Lamar Odom and Ron Artest. I assume that LA would want a draft pick back from somebody along the line, but a New York team of Ellis, ‘Melo and STAT would be an offensive force. Meanwhile, the Lakers would get their often-sought point guard while retaining Gasol, Bynum and Kobe Bryant. Jackson’s Warriors would be much better defensively and would still have enough weapons to compete on the other end of the floor.
The newest edition to The Hoop Doctors writing staff, Dane Carbaugh is the editor and lead writer of the popular new basketball blog Hardcourt Hoops. Dane is an accomplished author and blogger of both American politics and NBA basketball.
