With the Stephen Jackson ordeal having reaching its merciful conclusion on Monday, it wouldn't be the Warriors if all was restored to peace and tranquility. Right? This is the Golden State Warriors; neat resolutions DO NOT EXIST.
Is Monta Ellis On His Way Out In Golden State?
Tim Kawakami reports on the latest mess. First, he delves into Monta’s discontent:
Several sources indicate that Ellis’ agent, Jeff Fried, already has discussed the possibility of the Warrriors giving Fried and Ellis permission to talk to other teams to quicken the pace of trade talks.
And then, on the other side of the table, there's Don Nelson:
...Apparently at Don Nelson’s urging, the Warriors have been calling teams and offering to trade Ellis in recent days.
It is likely that their efforts will only intensify, barring some 11th-hour peace treaty. Ellis has four years and $44M owed to him after this season, but several sources say that he will be less difficult to trade than Stephen Jackson was.
And it seems inevitable that Ellis will be traded, presuming that Nelson remains in power, and every source I’ve talked to believes that Nelson will remain in power.
That last part, "Nelson will remain in power." Yeah, that's the problem here. Monta Ellis is one of the better guards in the league, smack in the middle of his prime, in a league that's become guard-dominated under the current NBA rules. He's a commodity. But if he doesn't fit into Don Nelson's plan to turn the Warriors into Stephen Curry's carnival of failure, then he's got to go. And where trading Stephen Jackson was akin to offloading a barrel of day-old fish, there will absolutely be interest in Ellis.
The incident that Kawakami describes later in his report typifies the conflict, here: after a soul crushing loss to the Clippers, Ellis laced into his teammates for their poor performance, exactly the sort of thing you'd want out of a guy you're paying $11 million-a-year. He's supposed to be the leader, and he was playing his part.
But when Don Nelson walked into the locker room, he told Ellis to sit down and be quiet. For whatever reason, it seems Nelson doesn’t respect Ellis; as a player, as a leader, whatever. Nelson’s clearly frustrated with the current state of the Warriors, and right or wrong, it seems he places a lot of the blame with his star guard. As a result, he’ll explore trade scenarios, and because Ellis still enjoys a relatively positive reputation around the league, he’ll surely find some suitors. And then, he’ll be gone. Because reputation aside, Nelson doesn’t think Monta’s got what it takes.
If he’s erring in judgment, well... It wouldn’t be the first time for Nelson and the Warriors braintrust.
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