New adviser for the Golden State Warriors Jerry West did an interview with the San Jose Mercury News. In the interview he hinted at trading star player Monta Ellis. Here is what West told the newspaper.
When I look at (the team), obviously they need more size.”"I’ve seen teams trade players that score tons of points and people say, ‘How in the world can you trade that player?’” West added. “Because he might score tons of points and the team doesn’t win.”
Even though West doesn’t come out and say it, he is talking about trading Ellis. Last season for the Warriors Ellis averaged 24.1 points per game. I consider Ellis to be one of the best scorers in the league, but he really doesn’t do much defensively. There is no way that the Warriors would trade Stephen Curry he is just to marketable.
Even though Ellis is scoring his points, the Warriors are not winning, they have missed the playoffs 16 of the last 17 years. So something needs to change. When I think of the Warriors I see a team that can score the basketball, but they play no defense at all and have no toughness.
The Warriors gave up 105.7 points per game last season, which ranked tied for 27th in the league. They were also last in the NBA in rebound differential at minus 4.3 rebounds per game. There is no question the Warriors have to get better in these areas if they want to get back to the playoffs.
According to sources at The Mercury News two likely trading partners are the Chicago Bulls, and the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Bulls could really use Ellis; they desperately need another scorerin the backcourt to help Derrick Rose. If the Bulls had another shooting guard this year, they could have gotten past the Heat that was the weak position on their team. The Bulls have some tough players the Warriors might like.
The Grizzlies could also use a better shooting guard; O.J. Mayo only averaged 11.3 points per game last season. With the Grizzlies making a push in this year’s playoffs, could getting Ellis make them a better team?
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Tags: Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Golden State Warriors to trade Monta Ellis, Jerry West, Memphis Grizzlies, Monta Ellis, Monta Ellis to the Chicago Bulls, Monta Ellis to the Memphis Grizzlies