Report: Spurs Express Interest in Monta Ellis

re: Raptors and DeRozan, I would guess it's because he's not Ujiri's guy. The Raptors have also been rumored to possibly use the stretch provision on Fields. Could be that Ujiri is trying to clear the decks of Colangelo's mistakes sooner rather than later.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

He's the two-guard version of Rudy Gay. He's an even worse three-point shooter than Ellis (28 percent last season), and he's not much better from two (44 percent). He's not like Evans who has put up great stats that people have just failed to notice. He'd need a lot of coaching to reach his potential, but he's getting paid like he's already there. I also have no idea about his attitude.

But as you said, he's only 23, and he's a 6-7 shooting-guard. With good coaching, he would hopefully get a good shot selection. He has great physical tools as well. Since I consider the Spurs' cap space essentially house money, I wouldn't mind gambling a bit here. If he can get coached to be a plus defender, he and Leonard could be incredible together for years to come.

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I always thought he looked like a humble, coachable kid, and pretty far from Rudy Gay. To be frank I haven't seen many Raptors games this season, so I don't know if that changed. He has length and I recall him being able to drive and get to the basket.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

Why not? If the Spurs stay over the cap, it won't be like there's any money wasted.

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Spurs wise, it's a lot of money for a limited use back-up.

Raptors wise, there's nothing the Spurs have they would want. The only rumor for a DeRozan trade I've seen is to acquire Bledsoe. Bledsoe is worth something and has been a desirable commodity. What could the Spurs give up? Bonner? Not likely, Bonner looks like he's untouchable.

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Originally Posted by objective

Spurs wise, it's a lot of money for a limited use back-up.

Raptors wise, there's nothing the Spurs have they would want. The only rumor for a DeRozan trade I've seen is to acquire Bledsoe. Bledsoe is worth something and has been a desirable commodity. What could the Spurs give up? Bonner? Not likely, Bonner looks like he's untouchable.

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I agree it's a long-shot. Hell, any outside player seems like a long-shot to come to the Spurs. I would really just rather get a player with upside and length than get Ellis who's aging, physically limited and probably set in his habits.

I don't think Bonner and Joseph are enough to get DeRozan, but at the same time, if Bonner does end up as part of a trade like this, then I think we can all agree that the team keeping him around was a good thing. They wouldn't be able to make a trade like this with just their cap space.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

I agree it's a long-shot. Hell, any outside player seems like a long-shot to come to the Spurs. I would really just rather get a player with upside and length than get Ellis who's aging, physically limited and probably set in his habits.

I don't think Bonner and Joseph are enough to get DeRozan, but at the same time, if Bonner does end up as part of a trade like this, then I think we can all agree that the team keeping him around was a good thing. They wouldn't be able to make a trade like this with just their cap space.

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How is he physically limited?

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Originally Posted by spursince#99

How is he physically limited?

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Too short to be a real two. Too slow to be an real one. DeRozan can play two positions well; Ellis can play any well.

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Originally Posted by MaNu4Tres

Unlike Ellis or Gay, DeRozan is a solid defender as well.

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Is he? Zach Lowe had this to say as of November:

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He’s a minus defender both on the ball (opponents shot better than 50 percent on isolation attempts last season, according to Synergy Sports) and not a particularly attentive helper off it.

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http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...ension-edition

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Originally Posted by ElNono

I always thought he looked like a humble, coachable kid, and pretty far from Rudy Gay. To be frank I haven't seen many Raptors games this season, so I don't know if that changed. He has length and I recall him being able to drive and get to the basket.

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Here are some highlights from this season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf2rasPx4kw

His game is weird. He pretty much can hit a shot from one step inside the arch pretty consistently. So he should be a better three-point shooter than he is. He can certainly drive, but I noticed most of his points in the paint come from fouls. That's a good and bad thing. He didn't shoot well from 10-15 feet, so he's not much of a step-back shooter. I don't see why that's a problem. He also posted up a few times in the videos I've watched tonight. That'a a great skill for a taller-than-average guard to have. All in all, he has the pieces of a really good game. He just needs to put them together.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

Too short to be a real two. Too slow to be an real one. DeRozan can play two positions well; Ellis can play any well.

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Monta Ellis is nowhere near slow. He's arguably faster than Tony. If you don't want him on the team just say so. Don't make up false accusations. :lol

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Originally Posted by Chinook

I agree it's a long-shot. Hell, any outside player seems like a long-shot to come to the Spurs. I would really just rather get a player with upside and length than get Ellis who's aging, physically limited and probably set in his habits.

I don't think Bonner and Joseph are enough to get DeRozan, but at the same time, if Bonner does end up as part of a trade like this, then I think we can all agree that the team keeping him around was a good thing. They wouldn't be able to make a trade like this with just their cap space.

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I don't want Ellis either, but DD seems like one of those longshots that is so long I can't imagine the Spurs even trying/wanting.

Re: Bonner, I don't see him being traded. His trade value as an expiring was highest when only 1 million guaranteed. I don't see any circumstance when I would ever agree that keeping Bonner around was a good thing. The Spurs untouchable list goes in order: Duncan, Bonner, Leonard, Parker.

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Originally Posted by spursince#99

Monta Ellis is nowhere near slow. He's arguably faster than Tony. If you don't want him on the team just say so. Don't make up false accusations. :lol

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I mean defensively. He gets blown by a lot. Straight-line speed is massively overrated in basketball. And I doubt he's faster than Parker. Tony is arguably the fastest player with the ball in the game.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

Too short to be a real two. Too slow to be an real one. DeRozan can play two positions well; Ellis can play any well.

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Ellis has also torn his knee up in the past. The older he gets, that might come into play.

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Originally Posted by objective

I don't want Ellis either, but DD seems like one of those longshots that is so long I can't imagine the Spurs even trying/wanting.

Re: Bonner, I don't see him being traded. His trade value as an expiring was highest when only 1 million guaranteed. I don't see any circumstance when I would ever agree that keeping Bonner around was a good thing. The Spurs untouchable list goes in order: Duncan, Bonner, Leonard, Parker.

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There's definitely no way to argue that Bonner is valuable to the organization. I think they very well may not only keep him, but actually re-sign him next off-season. But while his value as an expiring to other teams may have been highest on draft night, his usefulness to the Spurs may still get higher. It really depends on Ginobili. If Manu keeps the Spurs over the cap, then Bonner's expiring is more useful to the Spurs than the $3 Million saved by waiving him. We'll have to see what happens as the off-season goes on. If they do re-sign Ginobili for more than $5 Million, then keeping Bonner's deal would be one of the only ways the team could improve.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

I mean defensively. He gets blown by a lot. Straight-line speed is massively overrated in basketball. And I doubt he's faster than Parker. Tony is arguably the fastest player with the ball in the game.

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I highly doubt him getting blown by in a game, if you've ever even seen him play, isn't because he's incapable of staying in front of his man. He is arguably the quickest AND fastest player in the league with the ball in his hands but due to so little league exposure, not many can vouch for that unless they're a fan of either him or the teams he's played for.

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Originally Posted by spursince#99

I highly doubt him getting blown by in a game, if you've ever even seen him play, isn't because he's incapable of staying in front of his man. He is arguably the quickest AND fastest player in the league with the ball in his hands but due to so little league exposure, not many can vouch for that unless they're a fan of either him or the teams he's played for.

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I can't say I'm a regular follower, but I've seen him play more than a handful of time over the last few years. I don't know why you think he's even close to the top in terms of speed or quickness. He'd be a much more efficient scorer if he were. I very well could be missing something here, but I don't think he could physically play the one at all. Even if he could, he doesn't seem to be able to do it skill-wise.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

I can't say I'm a regular follower, but I've seen him play more than a handful of time over the last few years. I don't know why you think he's even close to the top in terms of speed or quickness. He'd be a much more efficient scorer if he were. I very well could be missing something here, but I don't think he could physically play the one at all. Even if he could, he doesn't seem to be able to do it skill-wise.

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His quickness and speed is why he is where he is now as far as talent goes, and physically we're only asking him to be the sixth man which means you're saying you don't think he could run the one from the bench against opposing backup point guards?

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Originally Posted by spursince#99

His quickness and speed is why he is where he is now as far as talent goes, and physically we're only asking him to be the sixth man which means you're saying you don't think he could run the one from the bench against opposing backup point guards?

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Yep. Especially not in the Spurs' system. I don't think Eliis can run any offense, but he'd be especially hard-pressed to run the ball-sharing sets Pop likes.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

Yep. Especially not in the Spurs' system. I don't think Eliis can run any offense, but he'd be especially hard-pressed to run the ball-sharing sets Pop likes.

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Well I respectfully disagree. Lets not forget the teams he played for. :lol

Now that I think about it, I would rather have Jarrett Jack. He's a much more efficient scorer who would already come with the ability to hit the 3.

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Originally Posted by Splitman4evah

:lol from which part of the court?

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/b...is-Season.jpeg

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So much red...it's burning my retna

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Originally Posted by spursince#99

Now that I think about it, I would rather have Jarrett Jack. He's a much more efficient scorer who would already come with the ability to hit the 3.

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Sames, and you can probably get him for closer to $8m instead of $12m per.

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Originally Posted by Splitman4evah

Sames, and you can probably get him for closer to $8m instead of $12m per.

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Maybe even closer to 7.

An outside-the-box choice by the Spurs. I'm not against it, it's interesting.

I don't want Monta or his cousin DeMar. One dimensional ballhog gunners on big contracts ain't what the Spurs are about.

For the record, I'm calling BS on the supposed interest. This looks like a classic case of an agent floating the Spurs name in an attempt to widen interesting.

And, really, it's probably a good idea. "Damn, if the Spurs are interested, maybe we should take a closer look" will at the very least get Portland's attention, tbh.