Oh No!! Monta Ellis Could Land In Chicago, Memphis Or Minnesota

So far this offseason, most NBA trade rumors have featured one of two names – Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies and Monta Ellis of the Golden State Warriors. As draft day approaches, those rumors are likely to ramp up and in the past 24 hours, Ellis’ name has been linked to a few more places.

First, Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News wrote that the Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies may be interested. A trade with the Bulls could include Luol Deng while a Grizzlies deal might include Gay or O.J. Mayo (who was reportedly offered to the Warriors for Ellis in the past).
Earlier on Wednesday, ESPN’s Chad Ford speculated that the Warriors could move Ellis to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second overall pick. Whether the T-Wolves are really interested in trading the pick is still uncertain. There have been rumors that the Cleveland Cavaliers are trying to swing a deal that would give them the first two picks in the draft. But Minnesota’s owner, Glen Taylor, says he expects the team to hold on to the pick.

Regardless, the belief that Ellis could be on the trading block was heightened after Jerry West’s introductory press conference with the Warriors. At that time, he talked about the need for the team to get bigger in the backcourt and mentioned how he once traded Norm Nixon to make way for a younger Magic Johnson. Stephen Curry is the younger of the Warriors’ point guards, theoretically making him the club’s future. Ellis could provide an extra scoring punch for someone either off the bench as a sixth man or in a starting role as an off-guard.