Monta Ellis may stick around Dallas an extra year. (USATSI)
Monta Ellis was on local Dallas sports radio this week and hinted that despite having a player option to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, the dynamic shooting guard could stick around for one more year and exercise his $16 million option for 2015-2016.
"I'm a Dallas Maverick for the next TWO years," Monta Ellis on the Ben & Skin Show subtly saying he won't opt out next summer...
— Jeff Wade (@SkinWade) October 22, 2014'This is business, but at the same time, I'm going to look at everything with my family. I'll sit down with my wife, my kids, and we'll go from there. I'm a Dallas Maverick for the next two years and hopefully throughout the rest of my career and we won't have to have those types of talks. We'll just talk about year after year and see what we have to do."
via Musings From a Missile | Mavericks Outsider Report.
That's significant on a few levels. First, it makes sense since if he opts out this year, he's under the old media deal and a lower cap and if he hits free agency in 2016, well... chaching!
Second, it means the Mavericks could hold this core of Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons, and Ellis together. Even with Tyson Chandler hitting free agency this summer, it still provides them with an established sense of continuity and a real chance to build on whatever they accomplished this season.
It means the Mavericks will have cap room, but won't have to reinvent themselves the way they did this year. They took the best parts of last season and built this team, and now they can hopefully take a formula that works and go forward with it, with cap space to reconfigure their team if they need it.
Of course, this is October. Everyone says such things in October. It's pulling the trigger (or not, in this case) in late June that's the much more important, and harder question to answer.
Ellis averaged 19.7 points and 5.7 assists on 45 percent shooting last season for the Mavericks.
Basketball Hot News
Byron Scott says Lakers may need to trade for point guard. For now, Ronnie Price starts, Jeremy Lin off bench.
The Lakers have their final preseason game Friday night, hosting the Sacramento Kings, and we’re going to see something that seemed impossible when camp opened but appears headed to become a regular season reality.
Ronnie Price will start at the point, and Jeremy Lin will come off the bench.
With Steve Nash out through most of the preseason (and now the entire regular season) Scott has leaned toward starting the journeyman Price for a while. It could change before the Lakers tip off the regular season against Houston Tuesday, but don’t bet on it. From Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
The more interesting comment from Byron Scott was this, as tweeted by Bill Oram of the Los Angeles Times.
I’d look for this to happen, but the Lakers are not going to take on a long-term contract in return. And no, they don’t have the assets to get Rajon Rondo, so don’t bother.
The first thing Price starting means first is Scott does not trust rookie Jordan Clarkson to run the show (although he may play some at the two guard spot off the bench). If the Lakers make a trade for another point guard, that would drop Clarkson farther back in the rotation at the one.
It means Scott likes Lin with a Lakers second unit that is more athletic and dynamic than the starters — Lin, Nick Young, Julius Randle, Xavier Henry and Ryan Kelly (once all of them get healthy).
Price has been in the NBA nine seasons but basally as the third point guard, a guy respected as a leader but who isn’t much of a scoring threat, nor is he a great playmaker. So far in preseason Price has looked okay at times but he’s shooting 40.9 percent overall, 21.4 percent from three, and has less than a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio. And that’s all against preseason rotations. Plus he’s not a very good defender.
In spot duty Price would be a good guy to have on the roster, but leaning on him like this shows just how much Scott is looking for anything that might work with this Lakers team.
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