Monta Ellis has been an easy target for critics this offseason. His ability to knock down corner threes may have flown under the radar, but banking on him to consistently space the floor, open driving lanes for Jeff Teague, or pry defenders away from Paul George is nonetheless a risky gamble. Not to mention, asking him to do so would preclude him from doing what he arguably does best, use his graceful recklessness and impulsive change of speed to create off the dribble.
Barring splitting the basketball in half for him and Jeff Teague to share, turning him into the bench’s primary ball-handler may seem like a simple fix, but slotting him next to Rodney Stuckey’s drive-first game, with Al Jefferson’s need for space in the paint, has dysfunction written all over it.