As the Dallas Mavericks entered the Playoffs sitting in 7th place, with an aging Dirk Nowitzki, a not good Playoff Rajon Rondo, an injured Chandler Parsons, and a tired Monta Ellis, they knew they would be in danger of losing early. They were eliminated 4-1 in the first round by the Houston Rockets who went on to the Western Conference Finals. Now, half their roster is practically a free agent. From Monta Ellis to Al Farouq Aminu. The Mavericks are very unclear as to who is going to return for them in a Mavs uniform come next season.
According to Dwain Price, the Mavericks beat writer, Nowitzki has a hint where Monta will be:
Dirk Nowitzki said he expects Monta Ellis to opt-out of his contract by the June 24 deadline and become an unrestricted free agent.
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) June 16, 2015
That is not good news for Dirk, Mark Cuban, and the Mavericks. We already know they will be losing Rajon Rondo because the team didn’t work out for him, and now they might lose Monta Ellis. Despite Dallas being a frequent free agent spot due to it having the best facilities and treatment towards its players (thanks to Mark Cuban’s investments), they don’t have very many options left. DeAndre Jordan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Deron Williams have all been mentioned as players interested in joining the Mavericks, but the complete identity of that franchise would change. I’m not sure what the Mavericks will do this summer. What I am sure of is that Mark Cuban needs to secure Monta Ellis for the Mavericks. No one has been as consistently healthy for them, losing them would be a huge step back offensively.
So where could Monta go? Could Los Angeles, Miami (now that Wade might leave), New York be interested? Could he want to go to a younger team like Phoenix or Boston where he can be a star player again? Monta wants to win and get paid.
