Trade Talk: Monta Ellis
The Indiana Pacers were my preseason choice to finish 2nd in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. I’ll be the first to say that they have been very disappointing. Indiana has a 7-8 record and their wins have came against different levels of competition. They barely beat the 76ers and then lost to them. Then they beat Cleveland and lost to the Phoenix Suns. This team has been the epitome of inconsistency.
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The Indiana Pacers offense is ranked 23rd in the league. A big part of that is the play of Monta Ellis. Indiana made some big moves over the summer. Firing Frank Vogel and bringing in Nate McMillian, then trading George Hill for Jeff Teague and adding a valuable peace in Thaddeus Young. Shooting guard Monta Ellis was already a part of the squad but it seems he has lost his fit. Ellis only averaging 10.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He’s shooting a terrible 27% from long range. This isn’t a new trend. His numbers were just as bad last season. Now is the time for Indiana to make a move.
The first trade could be with the Philadelphia 76ers. Nik Stauskas is just the shooter that the Pacers need around Myles Turner and Paul George. He has a PER is 12.9, he’s leading the league in true shooting percentage at 69% AND he’s 7th in 3 point percentage. Stauskas would be a great fit and Philadelphia is dumb enough to make that trade.
The Los Angeles Lakers have another option in Lou Williams. He’s averaging 16.9 points on 44% shooting from three. The issue here would of course be the Lakers. They seem to have a great flow right now. I’m not sure they’d want a guy like Monta Ellis coming in and messing up that flow.
The Brooklyn Nets may have some useful pieces. Boban Bogdanovic and Caris Levert could be useful. Bognavoic has a PER of 15.2 averaging 15 points per game. Levert would be added for cash purposes. Bogdanovic can be a liability defensively, but he’s an upgrade for Monta Ellis.
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