Monta Ellis 2014-2015 Fantasy Basketball Outlook

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Justin Becker of FantasyBasketballMoneyLeagues.com. You can follow him on twitter @NBAandNFLInfo or on the Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues Google+ Page, and for more NBA basketball news and rumors visit Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues – a fantasy basketball blog.

Monta Ellis has been a very explosive and valuable player to fantasy owners ever since he started his second year in the league. He has consistently fulfilled the job of the shooting guard perfectly, getting his fair share of scoring, assists, rebounds and defensive statistics.

Ellis spent the first six and a half years of his career with the Golden State Warriors before moving to the Milwaukee Bucks for the second half of the 2011-2012 season. In Milwaukee, he finished the rest of that season and returned for one more year with the team. That brings us to last season, where Monta Ellis played for the Dallas Mavericks.

I believe in order to fully analyze how Ellis’ 2014-2015 campaign will turn out, we should take a look at how he has played in the recent past. This will give us a good idea of his strengths and weaknesses, which will help us predict this upcoming season for him. It will also show how he has improved and where we expect him to make improvements this season.

First off, let’s go back to the 2010-2011 season:

2010-2011 Season

The 2010-2011 season was the aftermath of the breakout year Ellis had the season before with the Golden State Warriors. He posted career-highs in a number of categories the prior season; he averaged 25.5 points per game, 4.0 rebounds per game, 5.3 assists per game, 0.4 blocks per game and 2.2 steals per game.

For the 2010-2011 season, Ellis showed much of the same explosive play. He played in 80 games that season, starting all of them. He averaged 40.3 minutes per game and also added 24.1 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, 5.6 assists per game, 0.3 blocks per game and 2.1 steals per game. He shot 45 percent from the field, 36 percent from behind the three-point line and 79 percent from the free throw line.

The 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons can easily be described as Ellis’ best two seasons of his career. Don’t get me wrong, though, he is still performing exceptionally to this day.

2011-2012 Season

The start of the 2011-2012 season was good for Monta Ellis. He spent the first 37 games with the Golden State Warriors, as he did for the past six years. He started all 37 of those games and averaged 36.9 minutes per game. In that span with the Warriors, he averaged 21.9 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, 6.0 assists per game, 0.3 blocks per game and 1.5 steals per game. He shot 43 percent from the floor, 32 percent from long-range and 81 percent from the free throw line.

For the last 21 games of the 58 games he played that season, he played for the Milwaukee Bucks. He started all 21 games for them and averaged 36.0 minutes per game. In his stint with the Bucks that season, he averaged 17.6 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, 5.9 assists per game, 0.3 blocks per game and 1.4 steals per game. He shot 43 percent from the field, 27 percent from deep and 76 percent from the charity stripe.

Although his numbers saw a minor decrease when he moved to Milwaukee, that was mainly due to his changed role with a different team. He still produced fantastic statistics for fantasy owners.

2012-2013 Season

For the 2012-2013 season, Ellis returned to the Milwaukee Bucks for another year. He amazingly didn’t miss a single game all season long, playing and starting in 82 games that season. He averaged 37.5 minutes per game. He finished the season averaging 19.2 points per game, 3.9 rebounds per game, 6.0 assists per game, 0.4 blocks per game and 2.1 steals per game. He shot 42 percent from the floor, 29 percent from behind the three-point line and 77 percent from the free throw line.

That season was a season that proved to the league that Ellis is healthy and can withstand the tough schedules of the NBA. He stayed consistent all season long, which isn’t exactly easy considering he didn’t miss a single game of the season. It was just an incredible season for Monta Ellis that resulted in happy fantasy owners.

2013-2014 Season

Last season was another incredible season for Ellis’ endurance. Just like he did the season before, he went the whole season without missing a single game. Of all 82 games in the NBA season, Ellis played and started in all 82 of them. Except this time, it was with a different team. In the offseason, he moved to the Dallas Mavericks and became their starting shooting guard. He finished the season averaging 36.9 minutes per game.

As far as statistics go, we saw much of the same from Ellis as we did the season before. He averaged 19.0 points per game, 3.6 rebounds per game, 5.7 assists per game, 0.3 blocks per game and 1.7 steals per game. He shot 45 percent from the field, 33 percent from behind the three-point line and 79 percent from the free-throw line.

Last season was a great shooting season for Ellis. He improved all of his shooting percentages compared to the last three years. He showed that even after going a whole season without missing a game, he could do it all over again the next season.

2014-2015 Fantasy Basketball Outlook

Monta Ellis will be returning to the Dallas Mavericks for this upcoming season. He will hold the same role for the team, but will get to enjoy the new additions to the team. The Mavs added Tyson Chandler, Chandler Parsons, Raymond Felton and Jameer Nelson during the offseason. They all should be able to compliment Ellis’s game.

Expect Ellis to see much of the same numbers as the past two years. I think he will be more comfortable with his role, which will translate well on the court. Here are my predictions for this season:

18.9 Points Per Game

3.6 Rebounds Per Game

6.3 Assists Per Game

0.4 Blocks Per Game

1.8 Steals Per Game

46% Field Goal Percentage

32% Three-Point Field Goal Percentage

80% Free-Throw Percentage

I have no doubt that Ellis will have a productive season this year and will be more than capable of filling in one of your guard spots on your fantasy team. If you’re looking for a guard that does a little bit of everything, draft Monta Ellis and you won’t regret it.