NBA Rumors: Klay Thompson's Emergence Makes Monta Ellis Deal Inevitable

Monta Ellis' days with the Warriors are numbered. Golden State is 12-17 on the year and headed nowhere. They are also itching to make improvements. 

For several reasons, the best—and most likely—way for them to do this is buy trading away their leading scorer. 

Ellis is a dynamic offensive weapon. He is averaging 22.3 points per game this year, and 19.6 for his six-year career. He is still young at 26 years old, but various circumstances make him expendable. 

Ellis has been linked to trade rumors for a while now, and the time of his departure is near. Take a look at the recent rumors. 

The Rumors 

Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com offers up the following quote from Warriors GM Larry Riley about their efforts to make a trade: 

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We're working day and night and we're hopeful, but what will not happen is, we won't do something that sets us back just to do a deal. We want to find the right deal, and if we get one of those we'll do it. I don't know what the odds of it are right now.

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The odds of making a trade greatly enhance in light of the following tidbit dropped by Howard-Cooper:

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Monta Ellis has long been the focus of trade speculation, and now his backup, rookie Klay Thompson, is playing better by the week and drawing glowing reviews within the organization.

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With Klay Thompson rapidly adapting to the NBA game, the Warriors can go about a trade of Ellis with less fear over what they are losing. 

Thompson is averaging 16.8 minutes and 7.3 points a game this season. And he is getting those points with eye-popping efficiency. He is shooting 45.4 from the field and 45.2 from behind the arc. 

What This Means for Ellis

Ellis needs to keep his bags packed. He has plenty of value for contending teams and the Warriors can use him to build a more complete team. 

The strength of this team is in the backcourt, but they are horribly thin at in the frontcourt and especially at center. 

Trading Ellis is the Warriors' best chance at building a complete team. As the trade deadline approaches, teams will get antsy to add some scoring punch and Ellis will be the first place they look.