Monta Ellis Will Not Find More Lucrative Offers with New Agent

There is only so much an agent can do to enhance the value of a client on the open market. After all, they are essentially salesmen, not miracle workers. 

No one is going to buy a 1974 Ford Pinto for $1 million. 

Forgive me if I'm preaching common knowledge here, but with Monta Ellis' recent actions, it seemed as if a little refresher was needed. 

Ellis, as ESPN's Chriss Broussard tweeted, decided to part ways with his agent:

In an article, Broussard gets into more detail, and it appears his decision was due to the fact that the shooting guard was not receiving lucrative enough offers in his current free agency. 

Now, I'm not trying to say Ellis is a '74 Pinto. He has a little more value on a basketball court than the memorable (for all the wrong reasons) Pinto has on the highways. 

That said, Ellis' estimation of his value appears to be skewed. 

Ellis, 27, has spent the last 1.5 seasons in Milwaukee after spending the rest of his career with the Golden State Warriors.

He became a free agent, as Broussard notes, by opting out of the final year of a six-year, $66 million deal. He also, again according to Broussard, turned down an extension from the Bucks that would have been worth as much as $36 million over the next three season. 

On the surface, Ellis has reason to justify his dreams of superstar money.  He averaged 19.2 points and 6.0 assists last year, and he averages 19.4 points a game for his career. 

However, NBA teams are going to look below the surface before offering up superstar money. Ellis is a ball-dominating, high-volume shot guard. For the majority of his career, he's been the leading scorer on bad teams. 

He can put up points in a hurry, but he can also derail an offense when he is off. He shot just 42 percent from the field last season, and 43 the season before that. He's also shot less then 29 percent from beyond the arc since joining the Bucks. 

Considering he is 27, it is highly unlikely that Ellis will become a more efficient player for the rest of his career. 

With teams battling the salary cap, Ellis is struggling to find offers. This is not his agent's fault. That is just a product of the reality of his situation. 

Ellis would be a nice sixth man on a championship caliber team. He would be instant offense off the bench and could control the ball with the second unit. That kind of player has great value in the NBA. Just not the kind of value Ellis is looking for.