In the most recent installment of ESPN’s 5-on-5, the Warriors World bloggers as well some other prominent basketball contributors shared some thoughts on what to expect from the Golden State Warriors next season. The most important question that Dubs fans and players might want to be answered at the conclusion of the lockout is what to do with Monta Ellis.
There has been a growing sentiment in the basketball community that perhaps the Warriors would be better off if they were able to trade Ellis for quality performers or perhaps a stud player that fits better within the framework of the team. Darius Soriano of Forum Blue and Gold had this to share on the matter:
“Unless the Monta Ellis/Steph Curry combination morphs into the next John Stockton/Jeff Hornacek, Isiah Thomas/Joe Dumars or Dennis Johnson/Danny Ainge, I can’t endorse moving forward with a small backcourt as this team’s foundation. When you add in Ellis’ penchant for gunning, lackadaisical defense and how he impedes Curry’s growth, he’s got to go.”
In an effort to put his Ether stamp all over my Takeover (yes, that’s me in the video), Devin Kharpertian (huge Nas fan) of Nets Are Scorching offered this rebuttal to my stance on wanting to keep the Dubs guard in the Bay:
“Sorry, J.M., but historically successful teams are not often led by undersized, ball-dominant shooting guards with below-average efficiency. Monta is a workhorse, but he’s not winning any blue ribbons the way he plays now. I’m not buying the “different Monta” until I see it.”
And much like the public, the six bloggers called upon to answer the question were split on whether to trade the guard or keep him. Indeed, our very own Rasheed Malek, ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Palmer and I were all in agreement that Monta Ellis should remain a Warrior going into next season whereas Ethan Sherwood Strauss, Darius and Devin all agreed that it was time to in fact part ways.
I strongly suggest having a look at the rest of the piece; it provides some interesting insights on the perception of the Warriors going forward. The 5-on-5 roundtable can be found here.
Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can contact me by email at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter with the handle name @ShyneIV.
What the Warriors need is a pass first PG in the mould of Jose Calderon. They have no one to really distribute the ball. Stephen Curry would rather shoot than pass. the same goes for Monta. One can actually put forth the argument that they are essentially the same player.
essentially? Curry is better at passing and is a much more efficient scorer. They’re both clearly shoot first players, but not all shoot first players are created equal. Curry is a more willing passer and the more effective scorer.
I don’t think you need a true pass first point guard to succeed. There are few of those in the league and most are also very good scorers (Nash, Paul, Williams). Jose Calderon isn’t one of them. That would also compound our size problems- we’d still have to trade Ellis and/or Curry to accommodate that player. The only good pass first PG we could conceivably get is Kyle Lowry, who I like a lot, but probably isn’t better than Curry.