It was taking long enough that it was beginning to worry me, but the Warriors and Monta Ellis finally agreed on a six-year, $67 million contract.
A few thoughts:
It's about time, and I'm surprised nobody else was willing to pay him more. (Probably nobody else could. It's also possible the reason this took as long as it did is because Monta was waiting to see if someone willing to put out an offer sheet could free up cap space.)
Suddenly, the Warriors don't look all that bad. Monta running the point (which I still don't like) Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Al Harrington and Andris Biedrins round out the starting five, with Kelenna Azubuike, Maurice Evans (I still haven't seen this confirmed), Ronny Turiaf, newly acquired Marcus Williams, and possibly one or all three of Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright and Marco Belinelli ready to come off the bench.
Don't write them out of the playoffs just yet. Stranger things have happened.
Now just sign Biedrins and wait for next year.
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2 months ago
Is it just me, or is this a steal for the Warriors, 11 mil a year for a 22 year old budding superstar. Monta is just beginning to scratch the surface of how good he can be. The best comparison I've seen for Monta is Kevin Johnson. If his ball handling skills ever match his mid rage jumper, or his explosiveness, watch out!!! I can't believe he didn't get a larger contract. The Warriors are in very good shape with this deal......
2 months ago
i agree with Rob
11 mil for a player who plays with more heart and has better skill-set than Stephon Marbury? c'mon, even Marbury earned 17 or so million dollars last season
when i first found out how much Ellis earned last year, i was in shock. i mean, he loves basketball! or else, nobody would play at this level for that amount of money
but honestly
Ellis deserves more
2 months ago
The kid is a 22 year old stud. 11 million pops a year isn't a bad deal. I'm happy for the Warriors because this kid is the first franchise player they have had since..I have no idea. I admire that the kid took this deal instead of doing what many athletes do, and complain about getting paid millions of dollars. I like the possibilities in Golden State. Now just imagine if they were able to sign Elton Brand..
2 months ago
I'm very glad to see that the Gilbert Arenas saga didn't repeat itself. On the Biedrins front, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury is saying that Andris' agent's threats to get his client a contract in Europe is probably just a bluff to raise the offer the Warriors eventually give. I hope this is true. Even with Ellis locked in, losing Biedrins for nothing would be very very bad, potentially high-lottery bad.
2 months ago
Fortunately for all of us, after the Gilbert Arenas deal, the NBA rewrote the rulebook regarding NBA 2nd round rookies. Now, these second round draft picks are much easier to hold on to. Ellis didn't have much of a choice in where to go as long as the Warriors ponied up.
With the new rules in place, the Warriors would have resigned Gilbert way back when.
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