ESPN's Rick Bucher is reporting that the Sixers and Golden State Warriors are discussing a possible trade involved Andre Iguodala and Monta Ellis. The trade could potentially be done as a straight up swap or involve picks because the salaries are relatively close. Ellis makes $11 million over the next three years, while Iguodala makes $13.5 mil next year, $14.7 the following year and $15.9 in the final year.
↵Ellis would slot in at shooting guard for the Sixers, opening up a starting spot for Evan Turner at the 3 and providing some much need scoring. Ellis averaged 24 points per game last year and almost 20 for his career. However, it's how he scores all the points that presents a problem for the Sixers. He plays a lot of a minutes and takes a lot of shots. So while his numbers are gaudy, they're not efficient. Think Lou Williams.
↵ESPN's John Hollinger points out that despite how much Ellis scores, his team appears to be better when he's not in the lineup.
↵↵↵The most damning stat, however, is how much better the team played without him. Golden State outscored its opponents quite comfortably as long as Ellis wasn't around, and finished a whopping 11.4 points per 100 possessions better without Ellis -- giving him the single worst differential in basketball.
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Of course, Iguodala isn't a good jump shooter and settles for poor shots at times, but not to the degree Ellis does. Plus, at least Iguodala brings an above average defensive presence to the team as opposed to Ellis, who is a liability on the defensive end. The guys at Liberty Ballers have done a bunch of posts on the possible trade and are pretty dead set against it.