Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles should sign recently waived Monta Ellis

Monta Ellis is a 13-year veteran that is a familiar face within NBA households. Now, Ellis is tied up in Lakers rumors to head back to California.

Monta Ellis played in California for seven seasons to start his career. Being the star guard for the Warriors before Stephen Curry, Ellis was one of the best scorers in all of the NBA. Now, the shooting guard has seen his role diminish in the NBA, however, that is not keeping him away from the Lakers rumors.

Ellis was waived by the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, July 5. The veteran guard played just two seasons of his four-year deal in Indiana, which quite frankly, was underwhelming for Pacer fans.

Instead of keeping Ellis on the team Indiana opted to cut him to save cap space. Ellis is now owed $11.2 million by the Pacers, a sum they will pay him over the next five seasons. With Paul George being traded to the Thunder in exchange for Victor Oladipo’s ridiculous contract, this serves as another move towards youth for Indiana.

Ellis’ lack of production last season did not help him make his case, either. Moving to the bench hurt Ellis, he started just 33 games last season and averaged just under seven fewer minutes per game.

This saw his points per game dip from 13.8 to 8.5, his assists per game from 4.7 to 3.2, and his steals per game from 1.9 to 1.1. Father time seemed to be catching up to Ellis last season at only 31 years of age.

All of these signs seem alarming and reasonably so. I would completely understand why Laker fans would not want to bring in Monta Ellis.

More from Lakers Rumors

Yet, the crazy part is, the team should. Los Angeles is pretty thin at guard behind Lonzo Ball and Jordan Clarkson. With no real backup for Ball, Los Angeles has explored options at point guard. However, instead of bringing in another point, the Lakers would be better suited to bring in a starting-caliber shooting guard.

Clarkson is a great player and he could do decent as a starting shooting guard, but let’s face it, he was far better at the point last season.

During the starts he made at the end of the year when the Lakers were trying D’Angelo Russell at shooting guard Clarkson averaged 16.2 points per game – even dropping 35 against the Timberwolves.

That scoring point guard production is exactly what the Lakers need behind Ball. As for Ellis, bringing him in on a small two-year, $12 million contract would be huge for the Lakers. Although Ellis’ averages did take a dip last season, it was due to the reduced playing time.

In fact, both Ellis’ FG% and 3P%, rose from the season before. His effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the fact that a three-pointer means more than a two, was his best (48.2%) since 2010-11 (49.3), which also was the year he averaged 24.1 points per game. To compare, D’Angelo Russell posted a 48.3 eFG% last season.

Next: Are the Lakers back in control of LA?

While age certainly isn’t on his side, it is evident that Ellis can still be a viable option for the Lakers at shooting guard. While signing Ellis may not be the most groundbreaking move for the Lakers, while they await Paul George, they should listen to these Lakers rumors.

Home/Lakers Rumors