Monta Ellis was the leading candidate for the “rude awakening to my value around the league” award from this free agency period. (His former backcourt mate Brandon Jennings was the other frontrunner.)
Ellis reportedly turned down a three-year, $36 million extension from the Bucks and the rest of us knew he would regret that (he thought he could get more years and eight figures a year). The market for Ellis has been pretty dry. The Hawks are interested but not with a big offer, the same from the Mavericks but even less so. The Knicks and Lakers reportedly had interest but neither can offer more than the mini midlevel of $3.2 million (the Lakers used theirs on Chris Kaman now) and more likely were offering veteran minimum deals.
So Ellis has blamed his agent, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.
Monta Ellis, one of the premier players remaining on the free agent market, parted ways with his longtime agent, Jeff Fried, on Wednesday.
Ellis, who opted out of the final year of a six-year, $66 million deal, is frustrated that he has yet to receive a high-paying contract offer. Industry sources expect him to sign with agent Dan Fegan.
It wasn’t Fried. Ellis is a volume shooter in a league that more and more values efficiency. Ellis can dish the rock but he is at best a disinterested defender. He can get you points off a lot of contested shots — he averaged 19.2 points and 6 assists a game last year — but a lot of new era GMs shy away from guys like that.
Also, welcome to the new CBA, with its much stiffer tax structure. Teams are far more cautious with their spending.
Somebody will pick up Ellis; he has value on a team. Just not as much as he thought he had.