NBA Free Agency 2013: Sacramento Kings Interested in Pursuing Monta Ellis
By Josh Hill
It’s an exciting time to be involved with the Sacramento Kings, and it’s looking like the offseason fun is just beginning. After successfully lobbying to keep the team from being moved to Seattle, the Kings have added assumed new ownership, hired a new head coach and are now targeting a star guard to come in and lead the team into the future.
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Sacramento Kings will be using new head coach Mike Malone to lure shooting guard Monta Ellis away from the Milwaukee Bucks and it’s a plan that may end up working.
Malone coached Ellis back with Golden State before the guard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a move that sent Andrew Bogut to the Warriors. To add to the drama, the Bucks have not been confident that Ellis is going to pick up his player option for the final year of his contract and have been preparing themselves in the event that Ellis walks away from this deal with the team.
That’s looking more and more like a reality now that the Kings have entered the equation more so than they ever have before and the leverage they have over the Bucks is very real.
A lot can still happen this offseason, but it’s looking like the Kings are going to ride the momentum of keeping the team longer than expected and the team staying won’t end up being the only thing to be excited about when the season tips off this October.