UPDATE: Monta Ellis has agreed to a four-year, $44 million deal with the Indiana Pacers, according to ESPN's Chris Broussard and Marc Stein.
Earlier this morning it was reported the Indiana Pacers made an offer to free-agent shooting guard Monta Ellis a week after he opted out of the final year of his contract with the Dallas Mavericks. He now has a meeting with the Pacers on Wednesday.
Nick Borges of ESPN said Ellis is a "lock to leave" the Mavericks. His opt-out comes as no surprise, considering rumors back in March speculated this would be the case, but it's bizarre to think the Mavs are in the back seat on this one after the veteran averaged 19.0 points, 4.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game in two seasons with Dallas.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported the Pacers and Ellis are in "serious talks on a possible three-year, $32 million-plus deal" and that the shooting guard will meet with the team's front-office and coaching staffs today.
Free agent guard Monta Ellis is gathering traction in talks with the Indiana Pacers, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2015
Larry Bird has been determined to secure Monta Ellis, and Pacers pushing hard to close a deal with him, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2015
While Indiana appears to be the favorite at this point, it was reported yesterday and early this morning that the Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets are also interested in Ellis. Previous reports had already linked the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks to the shooting guard. Ken Berger of CBS provided an update on the matter this morning while ESPN's Chris Broussard provided the initial news yesterday afternoon and last week.
However, the Heat and Kings may soon back off. Miami is "progressing in talks" with shooting guard Dwyane Wade and Sacramento is aggressively pursuing point guard Rajon Rondo (they want to sign one of the two, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated).
Ellis' fate could be determined as soon as this afternoon, depending on how his meeting with the Pacers goes.
