Sacramento Kings: Why Monta Ellis Isn’t The Kind Of Player The Kings Need
Monta Ellis will shop himself around the league looking for a team that needs a guard. The Kings are one such team. They shouldn’t, however, waste their time. Photo Credit: Pablo Gamez, IsoSports
Monta Ellis is, undoubtedly, one of the top offensive powers in the NBA. He loves to shoot and is one of the league leaders in both scoring (No. 11; 19.2 ppg) and assists (No. 21; 6.0 apg). Unfortunately, for any team looking for a scorer, you need to fork over more than $11 million a year for a one-dimensional player and a potential problem in the locker room.
In an interview with a Milwaukee television station in December, the outspoken Milwaukee Bucks guard declared that he was only inferior to Dwyane Wade as it pertained to the total win and championship ring counts. This assertion drew little more than a laugh from Wade in an interview with the Miami Herald, via yahoo.com, as he explained the main difference, besides the obvious, is that he prides himself on playing at both ends of the court and is a complete player.
One could be so inclined to prefer this response from Wade to Ellis with special thanks to NBA.com and “watchnba201213” on Youtube:
It is not like Ellis is without his strengths, clearly, the guy will add a lot to any team in the league in terms of his offensive abilities. What Ellis would bring to the Kings, positively, is a very good offensive tool. It comes at a price, however, as he takes far too many shots and his shooting percentages are far from attractive. He is even worse in the playoffs with a career playoff 3-point percentage of an abysmal 14.4 percent.
For whatever he brings to a team in his ability to shoot enough to land 19 to 20 points per game, he is virtually non-existent on defense. He does not put any kind of pressure on opposing guards and generates very few steals. Opposing offenses are not altered by his presence and he is more of a liability than a help.
The Kings have enough problems right now in terms of keeping control of the players in the locker room with DeMarcus Cousins and his well-documented issues. The last thing that they need, in a year of complete transition and confusion, is another player becoming a distraction in the locker room. This is not a problem that the Kings need to be dealing with in such a vital and all-important 2013-14 season.
Consider what Mark Jackson told NBA.com (via Sulia) regarding the trade of Ellis from Jackson’s Golden State Warriors to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2012, ““It helped change the culture. Obviously it was easier to pull the trigger because we knew what we had in Klay and it was time for him to be a starting 2-guard. And he does everything right.”
Ellis has stated that he is going to opt out of the $11 million player option on his contract make himself available as a free agent this summer and begin the process of trying to shop his skills around the league. One team that is in need of another guard is the Sacramento Kings. The Kings, however, have enough problems of their own and should not waste a lot of time on the pursuit of Ellis at this time. In addition to all the reasons stated above, the Kings already have an undersized guard and are in need of a much bigger presence so they can move Isaiah Thomas into a different role that is more suited to his ability.