Golden State Warriors: Ranking the 30 best Warriors ever

18. Monta Ellis

Stats: 413 GP, 19.4 PPG, 4.7 APG, 1.7 SPG, 46.9 FG%

Monta Ellis’ NBA career got off to a shaky start. In his rookie season, he started in only three games and averaged just 6.8 points per game.

Luckily, Ellis turned this around quickly. Next season, his scoring jumped up to 16.5 points per game. He became an elite playmaker, and his blistering speed made him a threat to attack the rim at all times. Ellis helped improve the Warriors’ record by eight games and won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.

In the 2009-10 season, Ellis averaged a career-high 25.5 points per game, placing him sixth in the league in scoring that season. He followed up this year by scoring 24.2 points a game the next season, again placing in the top-10 for scoring. He was becoming one of the best scorers in the game. In his six years as an NBA player, he had averaged 20+ points in three different seasons. At only 25 years of age, his potential was still high.

Then the Warriors drafted Stephen Curry. Curry was developing at a fast rate and his chemistry on the court with Ellis wasn’t taking shape. It became clear that somebody would need to be traded. By the 2011-12 season, Ellis was on his way to the Milwaukee Bucks in a trade that sent Andrew Bogut to Golden State.

Ellis played six full seasons with the Warriors. If it wasn’t for the addition of Curry, Ellis may have continued to play in Golden State for many more years. However, I don’t think any Warriors fans are upset about the way that one turned out.