Monta Ellis has reportedly told the Milwaukee Bucks he will be opting out of $11 million player option for next season to become an unrestricted free agent. Ellis was the Bucks leading scorer in 2012-13, contributing 19.2 points per game.
Monta Ellis has informed the Milwaukee Bucks that he will opt out of the last year of his deal, according to league sources.
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Sources say the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers are three teams that have interest in Ellis, though the Lakers could only get Ellis via an unlikely sign-and-trade deal.
Good thing the NBA waited until a day after the trade deadline to release this new Laverne & Shirley themed BIG commercial featuring the Bucks starting backcourt of Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis – both of whom were tossed around in trade scenarios. It’s a fun commercial, definitely worth a watch:
Monta Ellis is interviewed and asked who he’d compare himself to in the NBA and says he is in “the same category as DWade” adding the only thing Wade has that he doesn’t is “more wins and two championships, that’s it”. Beyond that, as far as being on DWade’s level, he says “Monta Ellis have it all”.
With 30 seconds remaining in the Bucks vs. Wizards game tonight, Monta Ellis was fouled hard by rookie Bradley Beal on a layup attempt. After Ellis fell into a row of nearby photographers, Beal reached out his hand on what looked like an attempt to help the Bucks guard off the ground- but Brandon Jennings didn’t see it that way. Jennings came out of nowhere and shoved Beal in the back, pushing him to the ground. Following the altercation, and official review, Jennings and Beal were ejected with Flagrant-2 fouls.
After the game, each of the three players reacted to the incident.
On the foul:
Beal: ”I went for the ball.”
Jennings: ”With 30-some seconds left, I know a team never wants to give up an easy basket, but in that type of situation I feel like you should just wrap the guy up instead of just pushing him or fouling him once he’s in the air.”
Ellis: “He just fouled me hard.”
On Jennings’s reaction:
Beal: ”I guess [Jennings] was defending his teammate, I guess, so he came up and pushed me. It’s just all part of basketball. It gets physical. I mean, it is what it is. I just have to deal with it.”
Jennings: ”I was just trying to protect my teammate. I didn’t think I was going to get kicked out for it…. when you see a nasty fall, your first [instinct] is ‘Watch out, everyone get out of the way.’”
Ellis: “That’s what a teammate is supposed to do. It was a great job. That’s what we gotta do. We gotta make our mark. If somebody foul us like that, we gotta react.”
Monta Ellis opened up about his love for fishing at Bucks Media Day earlier in the week, telling play-by-play announcer, Jim Paschke, how he caught a 25-pound catfish in his backyard during the off-season. Here Monta is fishing in late September..rockin’ Warriors gear:
