After opting out of the last year of his deal in Milwaukee that would have paid him $11 million next season, Monta Ellis appears to have found a home in Dallas. Sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com the Dallas Mavericks have agreed on a three-year deal that will pay Ellis between $25-30 million.
Ellis had recently fired his longtime agent, Jeff Fried, because he was reportedly upset at the lack of offers. His Bucks contract would have paid him $11 million next season, so no matter what, Ellis will be taking a pay cut.
Depending on other deals the Mavericks have going in free agency, Ellis can only make as much as $30 million over the course of the three-year contract. There were also reports that Milwaukee offered Ellis a three-year $36 million extension during this past season, which would have upped his per/year salary and given him a longer deal. But Ellis declined that extension and now it appears he’s suffering the consequences.
Last season Ellis averaged 19.2 PPG in 37.5 minutes of action. He shot a woeful 41 percent from the field and an abysmal 28.7 percent from three-point range despite attempting 4 three-pointers a game. His true shooting percentage of 49.3 percent was the lowest since his rookie season with Golden State.
As the NBA has gotten heavier into advanced analytics, general managers and executives have come to view Ellis as something of a low percentage chucker; an off-guard who never met a mid-range jumper he didn’t like, but wasn’t consistent enough make the mid-range jump shot a large part of his game.
Perhaps this is why interest in him on the open market was tepid. It’s believed that after firing Fried as his agent, he was going to sign with Dan Fegan of Relativity Sports, but there’s been no word on who negotiated the deal.
What do you think of Ellis heading to Dallas?
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