Dallas Mavericks guard Monta Ellis reportedly plans to opt out of his contract next month and explore free agency for a new multiyear contract. The Mavericks, meanwhile, plan to pursue a trade for Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson if a big-name player such as Marc Gasol or LaMarcus Aldridge is unavailable in free agency.
A report in March claimed Ellis and the Mavericks were headed for a split after the season, and on Tuesday Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders said he expected the 29-year-old point guard to leave his $8.7 million player option on the table and to test free agency.
"I would not expect Monta to opt-in. I was told the plan is to opt-out and try and get one more long-term deal while he's in his prime that one is up to Dallas," Kyler wrote, "so (it's) a checkbook decision."
If that's the case, don't expect Dallas to bring back Ellis.
"The Dallas Mavericks have a major problem with Monta Ellis," ESPN's Tim MacMahon wrote in March. "... Regardless of whether anyone will admit it on the record, Ellis is a big part of that problem. Folks in the Mavs organization have been fretting for weeks about the impact Ellis' moodiness has on the team's soul."
"To put it bluntly, he's a pain in the butt who isn't producing," MacMahon continue. "... That, of course, isn't a first for Ellis. He had trouble getting along with teammates during his tenure with the Golden State Warriors, who never won anything of note with Ellis as the go-to guy and made an addition-by-subtraction deal by shipping him off. The same was true with the Milwaukee Bucks."
Ellis's production in Dallas - 19 points per game over 1 1/2 seasons - wasn't anything eye opening, but the scarcity of guards in free agency this summer may create a market for him that he otherwise wouldn't have.
As for Dallas, all signs point to center Tyson Chandler not being re-signed. According to Kyler, the Mavericks have a Plan A and a Plan B.
"From what I have heard, the Mavericks plan to be uber aggressive and that means LaMarcus (Aldridge) and Marc Gasol - I doubt they get either guy," Kyler wrote. "From there, there is a sense they would like to make a trade and the guy I keep hearing is Ty Lawson. That is too is not up to Dallas, so we'll see."
Kyler's report conflicts with another that claimed Dallas was one of the top three free-agency destinations preferred by Aldridge. Gasol appears to be all but guaranteed to re-sign with Memphis. Another option for a rim-protector is Greg Monroe.
As for Lawson, he indicated on Instagram that he would love to play for Dallas, and Denver apparently is open to trading him.
"There's a lot of ways to skin the cat. But one of them is through free agency, one of them is through the draft and the other one is through trades," Nuggets president Josh Kroenke recently told the Denver Post. "We're going to try to improve our roster until we truly have that core of guys who can compete for something for a lengthy period of time."
Lawson appears unwilling to be part of a rebuild, if Kroenke decides to blow up the roster this summer.
The price is believed to be two first-round picks, which wouldn't necessarily take the Mavericks out of contention. It's also likely Dallas could haggle with the Nuggets over the price and either agree to take back an undesirable contract or bring a third team into the deal - something I write about in more detail HERE.
