Monta Ellis isn’t Dwight Howard, and that’s not a problem for Mark Cuban.
The Dallas Mavericks owner put his team in a position to sign a top-tier free agent in each of the last two summers, but to no avail. Deron Williams spurned them for the Brooklyn Nets last summer, and Howard chose the Houston Rockets over the Mavs and a foray of other suitors this year.
After striking out on Williams, Dallas pieced together a roster complete with one-year deals. Following Dwight’s decision, there would be no such route explored. The Mavericks started handing out multi-year deals, one of which was given to the ever-enigmatic Ellis.
Knowing how inefficient Ellis has become—he shot just 41.6 percent from the floor last season—few would classify him as the franchise-altering star the Mavericks needed. He’s not in the same class of athlete as Williams and Howard, and is hardly an adequate consolation prize.
Cuban says otherwise.
“We never thought we’d be able to get Monta, and so it turned into a good summer,” he said, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com.
Most would have expected a “good summer” to consist of signing Howard or Chris Paul or a number of other players. But Ellis? That comes as a bit of a surprise.
There’s no doubt the combo guard can score. He’s notched at least 19 points per game in each of the last six seasons and has averaged fewer than 16 just once in his career. Putting points on the board is what he does. Just not efficiently.
Last year, it took Ellis 17.5 shots a night to post 19.2 points. Kevin Durant averaged 28.1 points per game on 17.7 field-goal attempts. Need I say more?
Comparing Ellis to Durant is like comparing apples to oranges, pizza to cheeseburgers and currency to feet—it doesn’t make much sense. Which is exactly the point.
Ellis cannot be relied on to carry an offensive burden the way Durant or any of the league’s truly premier scorers can. He’s three-years removed from shooting 45.1 percent from the field, and has become someone who attempts as many shots as points scored.
How does that make for a good for summer?
Next to Dirk Nowitzki, perhaps Ellis’ accuracy will improve. He won’t be the first offensive option, and with a relatively efficient scorer by his side, opposing defenses won’t be able to zero in on him as much.
Playing alongside Jose Calderon, a pass-first floor general stands to help Ellis too. That he is capable of running the offense himself has never really been a luxury as much as it has a necessity. In Dallas, it’s an additional asset, not something he will be forced to balance with scoring on a nightly basis. Separating the two responsibilities may help him shine even further.
But let’s not go shopping for a puppy and come home with a turtle. The Mavs set out to stage a coup that had nothing to do with Ellis. Swinging and missing on Howard (and Paul) was perhaps expected, but nothing, and no one, can fill the void another failed star pursuit leaves Dallas with. Least of all Ellis.
Could the summer have been worse? Absolutely. Dirk could have demanded a trade or the Mavs could have paid Ellis even more than they did. Let’s not pretend this is them getting what they wanted, though. It’s not.
Sometime in the near future, provided Ellis sheds the whole inefficient chucker label, this could prove to be a solid acquisition. Right now, it’s just the finishing touch on what was once supposed to be a great summer, turned extremely disappointing.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
