Monta Ellis Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Monta Ellis To Exercise ETO, Become Free Agent

June 17th, 2013 at 10:11am CST by Luke Adams

Monta Ellis has informed the Bucks he'll exercise the early termination option on his contract, eliminating the final year of the deal, reports ESPN.com's Chris Broussard. The move means Ellis will officially become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Ellis' decision doesn't come as a surprise, since we heard two months ago he was likely to opt out. The Bucks reportedly offered Ellis an extension that would have hinged on him declining the ETO to receive an overall three-year, $36MM commitment from the team. Considering the veteran guard apparently passed on that offer, it was only a matter of time until he officially opted out to test the open market.

The 2013/14 option on Ellis' deal would have paid him $11MM. I'm skeptical that he'll see many offers that match or exceed that annual salary. However, if he can secure a long-term deal at a slightly lesser yearly rate, the decision still makes sense — especially if he prefers to play for a team besides the Bucks.

Based on multiple reports, it appears likely that the Kings will have some level of interest in Ellis, who figures to draw attention from plenty of clubs in need of backcourt help. Broussard identifies the Hawks, Mavericks, and Lakers as other probable suitors for Ellis, though the Lakers would seem to be a long shot, given their cap situation.

Ellis becomes the second player to exercise an early termination option on his contract this offseason. Andre Iguodala opted out of his deal last week, though the other players who have ETOs for 2013/14 are unlikely to exercise them.

Kings Offer Chris Mullin Job As Consultant

June 17th, 2013 at 8:42am CST by Luke Adams

Over the weekend, the Kings reached an agreement to hire Pete D'Alessandro as their new general manager, and it appears as if the team could add another new name to the front office. According to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee, the Kings have offered Chris Mullin a position as a consultant, and sources tell Jones that Mullin is likely to accept the offer.

As Jones notes, Mullin and D'Alessandro worked together in the Warriors' front office for several seasons back when Mullin was Golden State's head of basketball operations. Sacramento's rumored plan throughout the process has been to pair a veteran, big-name executive with a lesser-known but respected general manager, so hiring Mullin to work with D'Alessandro would provide that sort of partnership.

Jones also points out (via Sulia) that if Mullin were to officially come aboard, it would add more fuel to the rumors linking the Kings to Monta Ellis, since it was Mullin who drafted Ellis in the second round of the 2005 draft. Sacramento will still need to determine whether or not to bring back Tyreke Evans before a pursuit of Ellis becomes a reality, but multiple reports have broached the possibility, and Ellis has history with Mullin, D'Alessandro, and new Kings coach Michael Malone.

Odds & Ends: Celtics, Bosh, World Peace, Bucks

June 12th, 2013 at 5:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com follows up on several reports we've heard about Doc Rivers this week, confirming that Rivers wouldn't be interested in sticking around if the Celtics decide to rebuild. GM Danny Ainge believes the team can avoid a full-fledged rebuild, but it remains to be seen what will happen with Paul Pierce, whose contract is only partially guaranteed for now, and Kevin Garnett, who is believed to be considering retirement. As Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld notes (via Twitter), if Rivers steps down as the Celtics' coach, it will be a pretty good indication that Pierce's and Garnett's days in Boston are numbered.

Let's round up a few more odds and ends from around the NBA….

If Rivers does decide to part ways with the Celtics, it's unlikely that the team would allow him to coach elsewhere without receiving significant compensation, tweets Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe.
Chris Bosh's Miami Beach home may be on the market, but Bosh doesn't have any desire to hit the open market himself, telling Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he'd like to spend the rest of his career with the Heat.
Speaking to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, Metta World Peace seems to hint that he'd like to work out a new deal that would assure he remains with the Lakers. "I came here at a discount five years ago and I did that because I just want to win," World Peace said. "I thought my last contract was fair. I probably could have got more somewhere else, but I thought it was fair. Right now, the main thing with the Lakers whenever we cross that path is that (the offer) is just fair."
Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld examines the Spurs and Heat players in the Finals who will be hitting free agency next month.
Addressing a report that suggested he and Monta Ellis nearly came to blows in the locker room after a Bucks playoff loss to the Heat, Larry Sanders says it was "just personalities clashing" and that he'd have no problem playing with Ellis next season and beyond (Twitter link via Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times).
Although the focus will be on their pursuit of a star, the Mavericks should also be looking to add quality depth to the roster this summer, writes Bryan Gutierrez for ESPNDallas.com.

Bucks Offered Monta Ellis Two-Year Extension

June 7th, 2013 at 1:59pm CST by Luke Adams

With Monta Ellis' opt-out deadline approaching, the Bucks made an attempt to extend the veteran guard, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gardner reports that the Bucks offered Ellis a two-year contract extension which would have kept him under contract through the 2015/16 season. It's not clear when exactly the negotiations took place, but it appears Ellis opted to pass on Milwaukee's offer.

Because Ellis is in the fifth year of a six-year contract, he was one of a pair of Bucks veterans that was extension-eligible entering the season. Extension offers can be for no more than four total years, including the current season, so Milwaukee's offer would have added two new years in 2014/15 and 2015/16, and would have hinged on the 27-year-old exercising his player option for next season.

According to Gardner, the Bucks' extension offer would have kept Ellis under contract for three years at nearly $36MM, beginning this summer. The maximum allowable raise in a veteran extension offer is 7.5%, so if Milwaukee was offering the max, the deal would have been worth $11,000,000 in '13/14, $11,825,000 in '14/15, and $12,711,875 in '15/16, for a total of $35,536,875.

Although Ellis is expected to opt out of his contract with the Bucks on or before June 20th and test the free agent waters, I'd be a bit surprised if he landed a deal that paid him a higher annual salary than what Gardner reports Milwaukee was offering. Perhaps he thinks he can do better, or wants to secure a four-year deal, or simply prefers to sign with another team.

A recent report suggested that the Bucks would prefer to keep Ellis over Brandon Jennings, while another report indicated Ellis may have interest in joining the Kings.

Draft Links: Schroeder, Larkin, Cavs, Mavs

June 1st, 2013 at 6:55pm CST by Spencer Lund

The Bucks, who pick 15th and 43rd later this month, are looking seriously at guards and small forwards, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The Bucks worked out six players, all of them guards, on Friday and with Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis' uncertain futures, they're looking closely at German import Dennis Schroeder and Shane Larkin from Miami.

Ellis has a player option for $11MM next season with the Bucks, but if he opts out before June 20th, he'll become an unrestricted free agent. Jennings is a restricted free agent looking for a max contract this offseason, but recent reports point towards the Bucks looking to re-sign Ellis instead of Jennings. Another point in Ellis' favor: the Bucks hired former Hawks coach, Larry Drew, when Jennings would have preferred Kelvin Sampson.

Regardless of the Bucks' attempts to bring back J.J. Redick, Ellis and/or Jennings, they're still looking to shore up their backcourt. Here are some more links as we're now inside of four weeks until the big night.

The ostensible top pick on that big night, Nerlens Noel, is part of the pre-draft positional preview focusing on centers by Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Cavs, of course, own that first pick, and Boyer keys in on Noel's rehab in Birmingham from that torn knee ligament.
The Mavericks continue to shop the 13th overall pick in an effort to clear cap space this offseason, and they're not asking for much, several executives tell Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
Mannix also got input from executives from around the league on this year's top foreign prospects, with Dario Saric and aforementioned Schroeder topping the list.
Local product, Doug Anderson, highlighted a group of second-round prospects who worked out with the Pistons, observes Perry A. Farrell of the Free Press. Solomon Hill, Brandon Paul, D.J. Stephens, Will Clyburn, and Carrick Felix were the others in attendance.
Kansas center Jeff Withey will work out for the Knicks and Nets before the June 27th draft, says his agent, Darren Matsubara, to ESPNNewYork.com's Jared Zwerling.
The Timberwolves are looking to bring Lehigh senior C.J. McCollum in for a workout, but they still haven't scheduled a time yet, says ESPN1500's Darren Wolfson (Twitter link).
HoopsHype.com just updated their list of players past workouts and future workouts by team.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post

Monta Ellis Interested In Kings?

May 31st, 2013 at 8:42am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings' hiring of Michael Malone as their new head coach should improve the team's chances of landing Monta Ellis in free agency this summer, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. According to Spears, Ellis gained a great deal of respect for the former Warriors assistant while both Ellis and Malone were in Golden State.

The link between Ellis and the Kings stems from a report earlier this month that indicated Sacramento's new ownership group liked Ellis. Of course, like Malone, new owner Vivek Ranadive also has a history with Ellis' old team in Golden State. Still, in a second report, a source from Ranadive's group downplayed the team's interest in Ellis, so it's not clear if the Kings will actually pursue the free agent guard this summer.

Ellis has an $11MM player option that he still could exercise if he chooses, but every indication is that he'll opt out in search of a larger payday. Assuming he does, he'll be one of three Bucks guards expected to land a big multiyear deal in free agency, with one recent report suggesting that Milwaukee may prefer to keep Ellis and J.J. Redick over Brandon Jennings.

Bucks Prefer To Keep Ellis Over Jennings?

May 29th, 2013 at 8:26am CST by Luke Adams

With three potential big-money free agent guards hitting the open market this summer, the Bucks aren't expected to bring back the entire trio of Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings, and J.J. Redick. According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com though, there's a "rising belief in exec circles" that the Bucks would prefer to re-sign Ellis rather than Jennings, going with a backcourt of Ellis and Redick (Twitter links).

When I previewed the Bucks' offseason last week, I predicted that the team would look to re-sign Jennings and Redick over Ellis. Since Milwaukee will have the right to match rival offers for the restricted Jennings, the team will have a little more control over his free agency. Ellis, on the other hand, can become an unrestricted free agent if he exercises his early termination option by June 20th, meaning he'd be able to to sign anywhere he wanted without giving the Bucks a chance to make a counter-offer. Ellis also reportedly nearly had a physical altercation with Larry Sanders following one of Milwaukee's playoff losses to the Heat last month.

On the court, the 27-year-old Ellis and 23-year-old Jennings had very similar seasons in 2012/13. Ellis recorded averages of 19.2 PPG and 6.0 APG to go along with a 16.2 PER and .416 FG%, while Jennings posted marks of 17.5 PPG, 6.5 APG, 16.1 PER, and .399 FG%. Although Jennings' relative youth would seem to give him a slight edge over Ellis, the team may also believe Jennings doesn't want to be in Milwaukee long-term, since he has suggested as much in various comments over the last couple years.

Kings Notes: Ownership, Ranadive, Draft, Ellis

May 16th, 2013 at 12:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Kings fans received some great news yesterday, when the NBA's Board of Governors rejected a bid to relocate the franchise to Seattle. Even with the sale to Chris Hansen's Seattle group seemingly dead, the Kings aren't quite safe in Sacramento yet. The Maloofs still have the right to hang on to the team, though they're currently attempting to negotiate a sale to the Sacramento investment group led by Vivek Ranadive. Here's the latest on the Kings, on and off the court:

George Maloof believes a deal will be reached with Ranadive's group, as he tells David Bienick of KCRA in Sacramento (Twitter link). However, he's not sure it will happen in the 24-48 hour window David Stern is hoping for (Twitter link). Maloof also added that Hansen remains interested in buying a minority share of the Kings, so that's part of the current talks as well (Twitter link).
With Kings ownership still up in the air, front office and roster decisions remain on hold as well, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Head coach Keith Smart and GM Geoff Petrie are approaching this week's draft combine as if they'll continue in their current roles.
The team interviewed six draft prospects on Wednesday, according to Jones: Reggie Bullock , Alex Len, Tim Hardaway Jr., Richard Howell, Tony Snell, and Deshaun Thomas.
Expect Ranadive to "eviscerate" the Kings' business and basketball operations should he assume control of the team, says Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee. Voisin also hears that Ranadive's reps shot down a previous report that the Sacramento group was interested in Monta Ellis.
Dale Kasler, Tony Lillis, and Ryan Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee, who have done a terrific job of chronicling the entire saga, recap an eventful Wednesday and look ahead to the next step for the Kings.

Odds & Ends: Thompson, Ellis, Hollins, Turkoglu

May 9th, 2013 at 10:54pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski looks back to June 2011, when Warriors' GM Bob Myers had worries about not being able to select Klay Thompson knowing that either the Spurs could possibly trade up in the draft to get him or that the Bucks were planning to select him with the 10th overall pick. As it would turn out, San Antonio would wind up trading for the 15th pick (Kawhi Leonard) and the Kings landed the 10th pick to select Jimmer Fredette, leaving the sharpshooting Washington State forward right into the hands of Golden State. Here are a few more miscellaneous notes to share along this evening:

AJ Mitnick of Sheridan Hoops fills us in on the "best of the bunch" in terms of international prospects in this year's draft.
The 76ers aren't expected to hold most of their interviews for their head coaching search until after the Chicago Pre-Draft Camp, writes Tom Moore of phillyBurbs.com, although there is a possibility that the team could conduct some during camp.
According to this report by the Detroit Free Press, the Pistons are widely known to be seeking perimeter help heading into the draft but could look to add more to their frontcourt.
Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reports that the Lakers have granted the Cavaliers permission to interview Phil Handy about joining Mike Brown's coaching staff in Cleveland.
When asked about the trade that sent Monta Ellis to Milwaukee for Andrew Bogut, Warriors head coach Mark Jackson told reporters that letting Ellis go helped change the culture of the team, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (Sulia link).
ESPN's Chris Broussard tweets that Lionel Hollins will be highly coveted if the Grizzlies opt to not re-sign him this summer, adding that the Nets would figure to be among the interested teams.
Heat owner Mickey Arison engaged in some civil discourse with a fan on Twitter regarding the possibility that Seattle loses out on their bid for the Kings (credit goes to SportsRadioKJR.com). Arison made it clear that he believes that the city of Sacramento has done enough to warrant keeping the team, and refuted the notion that Seattle had put forth the same effort in 2008 before the Sonics franchise ultimately moved to Oklahoma City.
John Denton of NBA.com writes that Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu understands the current youth movement of the franchise and that his time in Orlando could be over within the next coming months.
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter) reports that Lakers big man Pau Gasol will be held out of basketball activities for the next three months after undergoing an operation on his knee today.

Bucks Rumors: Ellis, Sanders, Coaching Search

May 9th, 2013 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

According to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, the Bucks have been prioritizing "strong-willed" candidates as they search for a head coach to replace ousted interim coach Jim Boylan. In his latest piece, Berger sheds some light on one reason for that requirement and touches on a couple other Bucks notes. Let's check out the highlights….

Berger reports that Monta Ellis and Larry Sanders nearly came to blows in the locker room following the Bucks' Game Three loss to the Heat in the first round of the playoffs. According to Berger, Sanders called out the team for selfish play, saying that the Bucks needed "to start playing together as a team and stop worrying about next year."
Ellis "took umbrage" with Sanders' comments, rightly assuming that they were aimed at him and fellow free-agent-to-be Brandon Jennings, according to Berger. Both Ellis and Jennings are likely to test the free agent market this summer, and reports have suggested that Milwaukee won't necessarily be either player's first choice.
A member of the Sacramento group attempting to keep the Kings in the city has done some research on Ellis as a potential target if the team parts ways with Tyreke Evans, a source tells Berger.
Berger notes that Nate McMillan and Kelvin Sampson have interviewed for the Bucks' head coaching job so far, and adds that the team is expected to reach out to Stan Van Gundy and Steve Clifford as well. Berger had reported both of those names previously, though last week he suggested Van Gundy would interview for the job, whereas now that doesn't seem quite so certain. Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times has indicated Van Gundy is unlikely to end up in Milwaukee.