Monta Ellis Opts Out of deal with Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have finally gotten their answer whether or not Monta Ellis will exercise his player option.

According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas, Ellis has decide to opt out of the final year of his deal.

Source: Monta Ellis has decided to opt out of the final year of his contract. The Mavs do not plan to try to re-sign him.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) June 24, 2015

The final year of Ellis’s deal was worth $9.08 million. The Mavs are now expected to have an excess of $30 million in cap room now.

With Ellis now a free agent, it’s expected the team will look for a new shooting guard and allow the undersized scorer to find a new team this summer.

Danny Green and Wesley Matthews could be options to fill the void at the position after the team pursues LaMarcus Aldridge and DeAndre Jordan.

Ellis led the team with 18.9 points per game and shot 44.5% from the field this past season.

Ellis became the first Dirk Nowitzki teammate to lead the team in scoring since the 1999-2000 season. Michael Finley averaged 22.6 points to Nowitzki’s 17.5.

Ellis, 29, was selected 40th overall in the 2005 draft. He spent the first six and a half seasons with the Golden State Warriors and was part of the “We Believe” Warriors that upset the number one seed Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 playoffs.

The Warriors traded Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks for Andrew Bogut during the 2011-2012 campaign. The move also handed Steph Curry the keys to the offense and team.

During his season and a half tenure with the Bucks, Ellis saw his reputation as a player dwindle. He saw his field goal percentage drop due to an array of poorly selected shots.

According to Ellis and reports, he declined a larger deal to stay with the Bucks and to pursue free agency.

When the team struck out on Dwight Howard, Ellis was the last and biggest signing of the 2013 summer.

The team would sign Ellis to a three-year deal during the 2013 offseason. Along with Ellis, the team brought in Devin Harris, Jose Calderon and Samuel Dalembert that same summer in an effort to retool the roster after missing the postseason the year before.

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