Monta Ellis followed through with the rumors that he was planning no opting out of the final year of his contract and after turning down an extension he will be a free agent for the Bucks and a number of teams could go after him, including the Sacramento Kings as well as the Los Angeles Clippers, Lakers and Toronto Raptors if their trades don't work out. The team mentioned are all rumored in trade talks and while those deals are far from getting done, if they fall through he could end up as a backup option for those teams.
The Milwaukee Bucks made the playoffs this year as the eighth seed in the Eastern conference and after getting swept out by the Miami Heat, the team has a number of options to consider as the summer nears, as both Monta Ellis and J.J. Redick may leave in free agency.
According to Yahoo Sports, Ellis may consider signing with the Kings and while the Bucks like former top draft pick Brandon Jennings, reports say that the team would rather sign Ellis than the upcoming restricted free agent. One thing that will play into the decisions for the Bucks this offseason is hiring Larry Drew as head coach, which was announced by general manager John Hammond last week. Drew spent years as coach of the Atlanta Hawks over the past three seasons and his four year, $10 million deal comes after he beat out Kelvin Sampson for the job.
Josh Smith and Al Jefferson will be available and the Lakers would be wise to add more talent during the signing period, as the West isn't getting any easier with teams like Oklahoma City, Memphis, Golden State and Houston looking like solid contenders next season. The Lakers have a number of options they can go after in names like Monta Ellis, Paul Millsap, DeJuan Blair and David West, but some of those players may be asking for too much and the Lakers could decide to pass.
Drew went 128-102 in Atlanta and made the playoffs each season, but the team is going through some big changes and he was let go following the season and now he has a new job. Drew takes over for interim coach Jim Boylan, who took over after Scott Skiles was fired. The team won just four of its last 16 games and ended up in the playoffs for the first time in three years, but they were swept out by the Miami Heat.
Ellis will be the first major decision for the team, as if he opts out there is chance that they will try to resign him, but reports say he would consider the Kings. Another option could be with Devin Harris, as he played with Drew in Atlanta and can play point guard and shooting guard and since he used to play at the University of Wisconsin, Harris said signing with the Bucks is a possibility.
The Bucks tried to get a bigger name like Jerry Sloan or Stan Van Gundy, but Drew has been a solid coach for some time and he could be the right man to bring the Bucks back to prominence after a number of losing seasons. The team will have to make choices on Ellis and Redick and Mike Dunleavy is also an unrestricted free agent. Jennings is set to be a restricted free agent and Ellis has until mid-June to decide on his player option for next season, which would be $11 million.
The Bucks have a solid young core with Larry Sanders, Ersan Ilyasova and John Henson and with the 15th pick in the draft they could get another solid starter. The Bucks feel like they are trending upwards with players like Sanders, who greatly improved while doubling his scoring and rebounding over the season and Henson has also showed flashes of brilliance.
