On the heels of signing a monster contract, Warriors’ guard Monta Ellis will miss the next 3-4 months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn deltoid ligament in his left ankle.
In an afternoon conference call with local reporters, Warriors executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin said that Ellis informed the club that he injured himself last Thursday playing pick-up ball in his native Mississippi.
It was about a month ago that Ellis received a six-year, $66 million contract extension from the Warriors. Ellis’ ankle will now be immobilized for six weeks, followed by at least six weeks of off-court rehab before the 6-foot-3 guard can return to basketball workouts, ruling Ellis out for all of training camp and the preseason and at least the first month of the regular season.
This is clearly a major blow to the Golden State franchise, which isn’t having the best of offseasons. Ellis is moving from off guard to point guard, and needed training camp and the first part of the season to become acclimated with his new role. Even if he’s ready to go by January, it’s not like they just plug him in and expect everything to work. Given how difficult it is to make the playoffs in the Western Conference, I just don’t see how Golden State stays in the hunt, but stranger things have happened.
The newly-acquired Marcus Williams will have a shot to run things in Ellis’ absence. He’s been something of a disappointment thus far in his career, but he now has a second life in the Bay Area.
