NBA Trade Rumors: Monta Ellis, Baron Davis Expendable After NBA Draft

NBA Trade Rumors Shift Directions Following The Draft

Now that there has been a week or so to see the dust settle from the 2011 NBA Draft, it's time to take a look at how the 2011-12 rosters are going to shape up.

Even before the draft, there was talk of the Golden State Warriors shipping their best scorer, Monta Ellis. And since Mark Jackson figures to be such a defensive-minded coach, Ellis doesn't seem to fit the mold.

Any thought of that being nonsense—why would you trade away a 24-points-per-game player who isn't a free agent anytime soon—lost its footing with the Warriors selecting Klay Thompson in the first round.

Although there may be some uncertainty about whether Thompson is a small forward or a shooting guard, he is a a phenomenal shooter and would quickly take a prominent spot on the Warriors roster.

If Ellis is pushed out of Oakland, that would be a tough pill to swallow for such a prolific scorer: After all, Thompson was the 11th overall player selected, not a top choice.

But Kyrie Irving was, and that's why you should look for the Cavs to ship Baron Davis out of Cleveland.

Now that they chose to take Kyrie Irving with the top selection, Davis is just the gift that keeps on giving.....to other teams.

Irving is hardly ready to start 82 games next year, so the Cavs do need a veteran point guard to hold down the fort, but it's not going to be Davis given his salary. Someone will take him off the Cavs' hands and think they can get something out of him.

Another player who has become expendable following the draft is Utah's Raja Bell, and not just because he is 34 years old, is coming off an injury and had his lowest points per game average since 2002-03.

He may play solid defense, but with Gordon Heyward a year older and the club spending their second first-rounder on a scorer like Alec Burks, the Jazz can afford to unload Bell and put his $3.33 million per season towards re-signing Andrei Kirilenko, or one of their two high-first round rookies, Burks or Enes Kanter.