NBA Trade Rumors: Dealing Monta Ellis Would Be Warriors' Death Knell
The clock is ticking on the Golden State Warriors in their attempt to land the quality big man that head coach Mark Jackson so desperately covets.
Unfortunately every name currently tied to the Warriors, from Orlando's Dwight Howard to Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut and everyone in between has Monta Ellis' name as part of the deal.
While Golden State would love to get their hands on Howard, CBSSports.com's Ken Berger reported that Warriors owner Joe Lacob has no intentions of dealing Ellis to Orlando if Howard isn't coming Golden State's way.
While that's fine, there's also been some feeling that Ellis could still be dealt. Just not to Orlando.
If that's the case, it's going to be a mistake that the Warriors will ultimately regret making, as dealing Ellis could turn out to be a death blow for the franchise.
Parting ways with Ellis not only means dealing one of the NBA's most prolific scorers, but it can hurt in other ways as well.
Ellis is the ninth leading scorer in the game averaging 21.9 PPG, and if dealt he would likely be replaced by a combination of rookie Klay Thompson and whatever big man they could possibly bring in.
But what happens if Stephen Curry can't stay healthy for an extended period of time during the upcoming seasons?
Suddenly the once strong Golden State backcourt becomes a major weakness of the franchise and they would be back to square one.
Ellis is signed through next season at a very affordable $11 million. That's a good dollar figure for a guy that's in the top 10 in the league in scoring. He also has a player option for the 2014 season, which is doubtful he would exercise right now, but you don't deal Ellis now unless the return is huge.
That's not to say you don't put him on the market next season, or even in the offseason when you have a better idea of which direction this team is headed.
To deal Ellis now, the Warriors better get themselves a big piece or two for the future or a pick in the first-round of next season's draft, which is very deep.
Unfortunately, that deal just really isn't out there right now.
The Warriors have to be 100 percent sure that dealing Ellis now will set them up nicely for next season and beyond. If they end up rolling the dice here, they could crap out and they could end up paying for it for a very long time.
