As one could see from my tweeting last night (@kirkland_j) I was not thrilled with the Ellis trade to say the least. Now that some time has gone by I am a little more open to the idea that this was a decent deal.  I just have a hard time believing that this was the best they could get for Monta Ellis keeping in mind that the Warriors also gave up an expiring contract, and a promising defensive minded player in Udoh, who was by all accounts doing everything that was asked of him.  This isn’t a roster, reset and blow it all up and start over. This was a trade made with the idea that they were one player away from greatness and that player is Andrew Bogut.  I am sorry but I still don’t buy that argument. Heck, I am not demanding or expecting a championship. Maybe that makes me a bad fan, but a fun to watch playoff team is okay with me at least for a few years. The #8 seeded We Believe team was one of the funnest times I can ever remember being a sports fan. Even for someone who bled Green & Gold in the late ’80s early ’90s. I will be okay with a few years of 7-8 seeds. I am just really not sure this gets the Warriors there.

So I will start with the Pros and there certainly are some out there:

1. The tanking of 2012 has begun and Stern cannot get mad. Maybe the Warrior’s keep their number 7 pick, maybe they don’t. If not, they better lose their 2013 pick or this trade will have been an unmitigated disaster. 2013 may be a better year to lose a pick and it *should* be a pick in the high teens early 20s. I still think it will be hard for them to be bad enough to lose the pick unless somehow Stern helps them move up in the lottery.
2. It does sound like Curry is being shut down for the time being. This is a really really good thing. Maybe the best thing to come from the trade.
3. Monta was going to become a problem.  I am not sure I believe this but he was obvisouly getting tired of it being Steph’s team when Steph has done nothing to earn it. I do think he would have opted out of his option year in 2013-14 so the Warriors only had next year to turn it around before he left.
4. Finally broke up the backcourt that was never going to work. And for that matter how in the heck is a Monta Jennings backcourt ever going to be much better.  WTF Bucks?
5. Biedrins is going to have to play again. I see this as a good thing because he cannot possibly have less value. This forces him into games where he can either get enough confidence back or be so much further embarrassed that he too opts out and runs back to Europe
6. If Bogut is healthy he will be a great asset. I just don’t think it is likely he remains super healthy (see cons)

Some cons:

1. Would have rather seen Curry go at this point and it sounds like maybe the Warriors were thinking the same thing, but because of the ankle Monta was worth more.
2. Andrew Bogut has missed 100 games in the last four years. Yes this is roughly the same number of games Monta missed, but remember he missed his in a freak moped accident, not hurting himself over and over again playing basketball like Bogut has done.
3. I don’t think a big guy like Bogut will ever be as healthy as he was before this string of injuries.
4. Capt. Jax is back. Not a good thing. The window for the Warrior’s flipping him is so small (he has to pass a physical) that he will be with them for the rest of the year.
5. Your Golden State Warriors offense now centers around DAVID LEE.
6. Giving up Udoh hurts. Giving up your best player hurts, giving up cap space hurts and then to top it all off you give up the only player in the trade who has the potential to get better.
7. We get to hear more about ALL-STARS David Lee and Andrew Bogut while neither one are likely to ever be an All-star again.
8. No more Monta post-game interviews.  Seriously I am going to miss those.

Overall, my disappointment in the trade is not that Monta is gone.  I can totally live with that. It is that the Warriors got such a small return on him. Maybe we were all kidding ourselves when we thought Monta was a valuable asset, but the Warriors gave up the three most valuable pieces in the trade: the best player, the young potential player, and the expiring contract.

I tended to agree more with these two takes than the local Warriors blogger’s very positive takes.