Monta Ellis was once the star of the Golden State Warriors. Back in those early years around 2008, 2009 and 2010, Ellis was the guy while Steph Curry was still a young guard trying to establish himself. Ellis was traded in 2012, and Curry begans developing into the star we know today, and the rest is history. What happened in those years in between? How did Ellis, who was once the star of Golden State, become the guy the team was willing to move on from?
Ellis came into the league as the 40th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. Success was not immediate, but by his second season he had already become one of the league’s better young scorers and won Most Improved Player.
Ellis was actually part of the famous “We Believe” Warriors team, and once that era ended he gradually became the main guy in Golden State. By 2009-10, Ellis was averaging 25.5 points per game and was clearly the biggest offensive name on the roster.
When Steph Curry was drafted in 2009, Ellis did not really have anything to worry about yet. The veteran’s stardom was already established, while Curry was still trying to prove that his style could work in the NBA.
Coming into the draft, Curry was regarded as an incredible shooter, but there were questions about whether he was a true NBA point guard, whether he was too small and whether he relied too much on the three-point shot.
That criticism sounds ridiculous in today’s NBA, but at the time it made more sense. The league played with a lot less spacing, teams relied more on mid-range shots and interior scoring, and guards were not regularly pulling from several feet behind the three-point line.
Curry came into the league and slowly helped change that thinking.
The problem was that Golden State now had two smaller guards who both needed the ball. Ellis was a scorer who liked to attack off the dribble, while Curry was developing into someone who could run the offense and stretch defenses far beyond the three-point line.
Eventually, one of them had to go.
Ellis was traded in 2012 as part of the deal that brought Andrew Bogut to Golden State.
At the time, the move was controversial because Ellis was still the bigger name and Curry had serious ankle problems. Looking back, though, the trade makes much more sense.
Golden State needed to clear the backcourt and build around the player it believed had more long-term upside. Curry was beginning to show that his shooting and playmaking could completely change the offense, while Ellis was more of a traditional high-volume scorer.
The move also helped balance the roster by adding size and defense with Bogut.
Curry was not guaranteed to become what he eventually became, but the Warriors basically made the gamble that his style was the future.
They were right.
Frankly, I do not see it.
Ellis was a very good scorer, but Curry became a much better playmaker and offensive engine. Curry could impact a possession without even touching the ball because defenders had to follow him everywhere beyond the arc.
Ellis needed the ball in his hands more often to create his offense. Curry could score, pass, relocate and completely change the spacing of the floor.
That difference is a major reason why Golden State’s system worked so well around players like Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
What happened between Ellis and Curry sounds less like pure jealousy and more like a classic case of one star slowly being replaced by another. Ellis was already the guy, then suddenly a younger guard came in and started taking more attention, more responsibility and eventually the entire franchise.
Could Monta Ellis have remained the star of the Golden State Warriors if Steph Curry never developed? Probably.
Could Ellis have taken the exact same team Curry had and won four championships? Probably not.
Monta Ellis was a legitimate scorer and a real star for Golden State, but Curry became something completely different. The funny part is that trading Ellis looked questionable at the time because Curry still had bad ankles and had not proven he could become a superstar.
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