According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, the Indiana Pacers have waived Monta Ellis.
Monta Ellis had it all, but has now been waived.
Indiana has waived guard Monta Ellis, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 5, 2017
According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, the Pacers have waived Monta Ellis, but also are using the stretch provision on his contract to smooth the cost out over the next five years.
Pacers will use stretch provision on Monta Ellis, per source. Ellis's remaining $11.2M salary will be stretched over the next 5 years.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 5, 2017
This comes as no surprise. Ellis had been rumored to be in buyout talks with the Pacers, and he doesn’t make much sense for the team now that Paul George is gone. With the drafting of Edmond Sumner and the signing of Darren Collison, Ellis’ place on the roster had quickly become superfluous.
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Ellis arrived in Indiana with high expectations. Many fans thought he would help Paul George as a secondary scorer and creator, but he mostly disappointed in his two seasons as a Pacer.
This past season, Ellis averaged 8.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 27 minutes per game. The only season that Ellis averaged a lower points per game and minutes per game figure was his rookie year in Golden State.
Things got worse for Ellis earlier this offseason when it was reported that he would be suspended for the first five games of the 2017-18 season due to a violation of the NBA’s drug policy. Antiquated marijuana policies aside, this isn’t exactly a high point in Ellis’ career.
It’s not that Ellis isn’t still a useful NBA player. He is, just not at the price tag he was at. A team will definitely look to add him at a much lower figure before next season starts. He can still score off the dribble and serve as an offensive spark off the bench. Defensively, he’s as hopeless as ever, but teams can’t afford to be too picky when it comes to players in Ellis’ tier.
Next: Darren Collison is back. How's the fit?
The Pacers could either use this new cap flexibility to sign free agents or have extra room going into the season. Either way, we’ll keep you posted as we enter the slow season.