I blanched at Josh Smith’s shot chart when it was posted here the other day, but good God, Monta Ellis’ is atrocious. Here it is, side by side with Smith’s. Ellis isn’t an above-average shooter at a single point on the floor.
As an Ellis booster, that’s a bit of a stomach punch. I’m using the Bargnani/Evans logic…he’s only been on bad teams where he was the #1 option, he’s always had to jack a ton of shots, a good coach can straighten him out…
Vomitatious!
AK47 to the Nets, that team is so loaded it’s scary.
It looks like Kirilenko’s 3 million per will cost the Nyets 15 million next year. So their second unit will feature Shaun Livingston, Jason Terry, Kirilenko, Andre Blatche, and…who am I forgetting? Doesn’t matter too much - that’s an awesome bench.
Reggie Evans, right? IIRC, the final deal sent MarShon Brooks to the Celtics instead of Reggie.
Good lord, the Nets are stacked on paper. But, a lot of older guys, a mercurial point guard, a 2-guard who struggled with injuries down the stretch, and a head coach who’s never coached at any level. Could be a juggernaut, a puzzling underachiever, or anything in between.
Also, time to build some cohesion, and what I think will be their Achilles heel will be their Achilles heels, and their plantar fasciitis, and their unspecified foot ailment…
How long b4 ESPN updates rosters so you can use the Trade Machine again?
Oh, and speaking of the Nets, I forgot to list MarShon Brooks (24) in the Celtics’ group of really-young guys, along with Sullinger, Olynyk, and Bradley.
Monta Ellis is off the board. He will sign a three-year deal with Dallas worth somewhere between $25 million and $30 million. That’s the best possible franchise for Ellis of the teams on the shortlist for his services: he will play under Rick Carlisle, and thus in a regimented offensive system, and he won’t be the #1 option, surrounded by offensive non-entities and thus obligated to fire bad shots at a high volume. If Ellis is ever going to get back to being the efficient player he briefly was at Golden State, now is the time and Dallas is the place.
Plus, it’s looking like the pay cut he’ll face for declining his team option might not be that steep.
On the downside, he’s going from arguably the worst defensive backcourt in the league (Ellis and Brandon Jennings) to…arguably the worst defensive backcourt in the league (Ellis and Jose Calderon).
I can imagine Ellis doing better with some better personnel (mostly Dirk) around him, but that price seems steep.
BTW, to answer my own question: once contracts were finalized the other day, rosters on ESPN were updated.
The Hawks matched the Bucks offer sheet for Teague, so he stays in Atlanta. Kinda surprised by that move. Kinda expected the hawks to tank next season. With the line-up they are putting in place, they may actually compete for a low to mid level playoff spot.
Metta World Peace goes to the Knicks for 2 years/$3.2 million.
I guess that means the Bucks will keep Jennings, but we’ll see. Atlanta also picked up Elton Brand.
I’m surprised Nate Robinson is still up for grabs, he was easily one of the top ten players in the last playoffs. I don’t understand what the Knicks are doing, they seem to just be getting players for the hell of it.
More signings:
Metta World Peace to the Knicks
Elton Brand to the Hawks
The Heat just amnestied Mike Miller. The reports say Pat Riley wanted to keep him, but they’re saving $17 million in luxury tax payments by waiving him. They could have saved about half as much by ditching Joel Anthony.
I think everybody knows just what Nate Robinson is, and they’re not going to break the bank for him just because he was good in the playoffs. If you’re a contending team and you need someone to give you some second-unit scoring, he makes sense. If you’re not one of those couple of teams, how much do you want to pay an exciting but inconsistent ballhog who can’t play defense?
And they just announced that J.R. Smith needs knee surgery and will be out three or four months. They say they were aware of the problem before they gave him a four-year deal, although that doesn’t explain why they did it.
Bit of a slap in the face, there, the Bucks’ qualifying offer to Jennings was for one year and $4.5 million. Inefficient players are seeing less and less money unless, like Josh Smith, they are also high-level defenders. The league is changing.
Anyone care to guess who claims Miller off of waivers? I’ll guess Houston, they love shooters and are looking to contend.
His loss is another hit to the already anemic Chicago offense. I’m feeling better about that 5-seed prediction.
The Bulls are getting Rose back. That makes Robinson a little redundant.
The Bucks have released Drew Gooden via amnesty.
A little, but as you noted, the ideal role for Robinson is second-unit scoring, as a poor man’s Jamal Crawford. So, his minutes wouldn’t overlap with Rose’s much at all. Certainly, they aren’t a team that needs to be letting anyone who can create their own shot leave.
Good! He can continue his unintentional quest to play for half the teams in the league. 9 down, 6 to go!
ETA: Man, the 2002 draft sucked.
