Monta Ellis supposedly unhappy about returning to Warriors

[Andrew]

Monta Not Thrilled With Rejoining Nelson/Rowell Controlled Warriors

Mercury News' columnist Tim Kawakami recently checked in with sources close to Monta Ellis, who has been rehabilitating his broken ankle.

'Ellis is working to get back healthy, but he is not happy with the Warriors, it’s getting worse, and he definitely is not pleased about rejoining a Warriors' universe that is ruled by Don Nelson and Robert Rowell,' writes Kawakami.

Full column can be read here.

A bit rich if it's true. There's two sides to every story of course and Don Nelson's coaching and front office record is hardly about criticism but I think Ellis has to accept responsibility for his own actions and realise that the Warriors must protect their own interests too, especially considering he lied about the nature of his injury. He might have an axe to grind with Nellie, but Nellie's system also helped him get that huge contract.

[Clueminati017]

Why don't he just demand for a trade since he lied about his injury, and Nellie and Chris fined him because of the lie he pulled. If his morality is not where it's at with these situations where....

A) He's not ready to be a starter. Since he likes coming off the bench as the 6th man with Barnes, Azubukie, and Bellinelli like that playoff run with Baron Davis & Al Harrington.

B) The pressure burst his pipes during the offseason. Players like Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson looking forward to play with Ellis and run point. Especially, taking on the role as a point guard where he's in the toughest conference ever going against point guards like Nash, Paul, Williams, Parker, Kidd, Billups, & Davis almost every night until he hits the eastern conference.

I just say trade him right on trade deadline because this situation with his unlikeliness is going to be another Stephon Marbury and Jamal Tinsley story.

[Andrew]

If he's unhappy as that column suggests, it wouldn't surprise me too much if a trade demand isn't too far off.

[Matthew]

Maybe he just doesn't like the dictatorship run there? He was very close to Baron Davis and they treated him pretty bad towards the end of last season, and they did make a huge deal over his injury.

Loyalty is a two way street. If an organisation treats a player like shit he probably won't like them.

[Amphatoast]

Can't they still terminate his contract since he went against it?

[Matthew]

I don't think so, but I hope they do so he can sign with another team this season or even in the off season.

[Alejandrov011]

A) He's not ready to be a starter. Since he likes coming off the bench as the 6th man with Barnes, Azubukie, and Bellinelli like that playoff run with Baron Davis & Al Harrington.

Matt Barnes is in Phx


Now... Ellis is acting like a 5 year old rebel... GSW decided that he was their point guard of the future and he lies about the accident... And now he's sad because Mullin took a part of his money

Come on...

[Matthew]

Would you be happy with anyone if they took some of your money?

[Andrew]

Can't they still terminate his contract since he went against it?

That's at the heart of the dispute, from all accounts. The Warriors reserved the right to terminate his contract after he violated certain terms but didn't immediately choose to do so, so Ellis and his agent feel that they should now waive that right as a show of good faith. I can see where they're coming from, but I can also see Golden State's side of it because they just made a huge financial commitment and they want to make sure Ellis is able to fulfil his end of the deal by returning and playing at the level they expect. Both sides are going to look out for their best interests and rightfully so, but they're going to have to come to some sort of compromise.

[Alejandrov011]

And would somebody who pays you be happy if you do something and you get hurt and you lie about that?

And you break a rule of the contract?

[Andrew]

Well, that's the Warriors point and it is a fair one considering the amount of money they've agreed to pay him. However, at some point if they want to heal the rift they'll need to take a lot his progress in rehabbing the injury and waive that right as a show of good faith to demonstrate that they do want him to be a part of the team. At the same time I think Ellis should acknowledge that he was in the wrong and did something very unprofessional by breaking the terms of his contract and then trying to cover it up. The Warriors were within their rights to punish him for that but then it also becomes an issue of whether it's a fitting punishment and whether they're going out of their way to make an example of him.

[Matthew]

Nobody is saying the warriors organisation wasn't within their rights. But is it not within Ellis' rights to not be happy? Is he not allowed to be human and actually express emotion? I think people forget players are humans too, they aren't robots. If people your employer takes money away from you, you're probably not going to be happy with them, right?

But I think this whole issue is an attempt to divert attention away from the Warriors horrible record this season.

[Andrew]

Oh no, he has the right to feel however he wants. But if he feels unhappy because he was punished then he's missing the point as to why he was punished in the first place. And you're quite right, I wouldn't fancy an employer docking my pay either but if I'd done something that warranted it then those are the consequences that I'd have to deal with but I couldn't fairly call it an injustice if it was the standard procedure after doing whatever it is that I did wrong. I'd have the right to feel angry, but my perspective wouldn't necessarily be right.

[Clueminati017]

A) He's not ready to be a starter. Since he likes coming off the bench as the 6th man with Barnes, Azubukie, and Bellinelli like that playoff run with Baron Davis & Al Harrington.

Matt Barnes is in Phx


Now... Ellis is acting like a 5 year old rebel... GSW decided that he was their point guard of the future and he lies about the accident... And now he's sad because Mullin took a part of his money

Come on...

I was talking about when Barnes was with GSW at the time. I know he's with PHX right now.

[Amphatoast]

He has the right to be unhappy, and if he is unhappy with the Warriors, then they can just take their money back and he can go sign else where...

[Andrew]

I doubt that will happen. They'll trade him before they exercise their right to terminate his deal, which I think they'll waive sooner or later to smooth things over but probably not until they're satisfied that the matter is resolved and it's all water under the bridge.

[Andrew]

We have a rebuttal:

There have been rumors that guard Monta Ellis isn't happy in Golden State and would prefer to be traded to get away from coach Don Nelson, but he refuted those reports on Tuesday.

"Listen, whatever it is about me leaving, wanting to go, I don't want to play for Nellie - that never came from my mouth," Ellis said Tuesday. "I don't know where they got that from, but I'm here for the next six years. I'm a Warrior. I'm going to always be a Warrior. Whoever put that out there did it because they wanted a story.

"I'm making it known right now that I'm a Warrior," Ellis added. "I love playing for Nellie, and I never said (otherwise), not one time. So you don't have to worry about that. ... Only thing I'm worried about is getting back on the basketball court."

[Andrew]

Apparently the rumour is doing the rounds again, which could suggest it had some merit in the first place or could still be trying to find legs on the same misinformation. If there's any truth to the rumour hopefully cooler heads will prevail on both sides but if a split is inevitable the Warriors could have a tough time moving him.

[Hoyasaxa]

Can't they still terminate his contract since he went against it?

That's at the heart of the dispute, from all accounts. The Warriors reserved the right to terminate his contract after he violated certain terms but didn't immediately choose to do so, so Ellis and his agent feel that they should now waive that right as a show of good faith. I can see where they're coming from, but I can also see Golden State's side of it because they just made a huge financial commitment and they want to make sure Ellis is able to fulfil his end of the deal by returning and playing at the level they expect. Both sides are going to look out for their best interests and rightfully so, but they're going to have to come to some sort of compromise.

I can see why Ellis and his agent would hope for it; it's a good business move to secure that contract as guaranteed. But honestly, shows of good faith are reserved for players who can actually deliver. Right now Ellis hasn't proven that he can deliver much more this year than lies.

[Clueminati017]

If Ellis didn't lie about the injury, and expressed the coach saying that he wasn't ready to become the star franchise player for Golden State. They would've made room for Al Harrington before trading him to New York, or Stephen Jackson one of the main star players. Unless shopped for a point guard in the off-season before the names of Anthony Morrow & DeMarcus Nelson came in the line-up. Just so they can have a franchise slot open for whoever. I say that from the fact that he was comfortable on being the SG instead of a PG where he has more responsibilities to think about. Plus, the Western Conference is very deep in PGs where he's going to be having a lot of competittion. Which the pressure point right there was filling in Baron Davis' shoes.

[Andrew]

If you're the Warriors, how long do you wait before you start to quietly shop him around? If he's truly unhappy and his relationship with the front office has soured as much as it supposedly has, can you afford to wait too long before it becomes a very public mess? On the other hand, his trade value is far from optimum at the moment and his contract makes it a tougher sell. However, if a couple of potential top tier free agents in 2010 sign extensions before then perhaps a few more teams will be in the market to make a change while the opportunity is there.

[Hoyasaxa]

As long as that contract waiver clause is retained, Ellis has an incentive to play at top-caliber level. I'd say, hold that over his head and make him play. He's a young player in the NBA who hasn't even come close to getting the momentum he needs to be able to leave a team at will one day and sign with another the next without effort [haha T.O.]. He'd keep playing and earn his contract if he's forced to do so, and eventually his opinions about the team will change if it all works for the best.

[Drausus]

Well, maybe winning some games will change that. Since he's been back, GS is 2-0. In his only 15 games this year GS is 9-6. He's a good player, not sure he's an $11 million a year player, but hes got game. I don't blame him for being un-happy with GS. GS is a mess right now. The only veteran with any real playoff experience is Jackson, and thats because he was with the Spurs from '01 - '03. If GS brings in some decent players during the off-season maybe his attitude will change..... but if they don't, would you want to go another season playing with Maggette and Jackson? (Atleast Crawford is being forced to Opt out or be traded.... I mean really..... who puts Jackson, Maggette and Crawford on the same team?)

[Andrew]

As long as that contract waiver clause is retained, Ellis has an incentive to play at top-caliber level. I'd say, hold that over his head and make him play. He's a young player in the NBA who hasn't even come close to getting the momentum he needs to be able to leave a team at will one day and sign with another the next without effort [haha T.O.]. He'd keep playing and earn his contract if he's forced to do so, and eventually his opinions about the team will change if it all works for the best.

Perhaps, but on the other hand it could continue to drive a wedge between him and the organisation and if there's too much ill-feeling on both sides then it's probably not going to work out long term.