Monta Ellis leaves agent, agrees to contract with Mavericks for less money

Monta Ellis has agreed to a three-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks, ESPN’s Marc Stein reports. Stein says the deal is in the $25 million range and could rise to around $30 million. The contract is interesting for a few reasons.

Ellis was one of the last top free agents remaining on the market, and now he has a new team. Secondly, Ellis opted out of the final year of his contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, which would have paid him $11 million. The Bucks were also reportedly offering him a two-year, $24.8 million extension on top of the $11 million he was set to make next season. That means Ellis turned down a three-year deal for nearly $36 million from Milwaukee to sign with Dallas for around $25 million.

Ellis parted ways with his agent Jeff Fried this week because he was disappointed with the free agent offers he received. He reportedly was seeking a four-year, $40 million deal, which is why he turned down the extension from the Bucks. Changing agents didn’t help his cause; he ended up signing for potentially 33 percent less.

Maybe now he’s seeing that the lack of deals was not his agent’s fault. And between Ellis and Andrei Kirilenko’s contracts, we’re seeing that the market has dissipated for some players.

(info via Rotoworld)