The entire summer buzz has been about Anthony Randolph destroying the Summer League competition and subsequently getting to try out with Team USA.

Are we forgetting about are BEST player and the player that represented the Warriors in the USA Select team last?

Monta Ellis had a horrible year last year on and off the court.  Destroying his ankle on a moped Monta Ellis destroyed his opportunity of becoming our point guard and our team leader.  Most of the news and articles about Ellis last year were about his off court drama, from the moped injury to the Rowell versus Ellis in the contract voiding issue, and Nelson versus Ellis on whether he was a point guard or not.  Last year was a major step back for Ellis and this franchise.

However this summer there has been very little buzz about our franchise player, our 66 million dollar man.  Lest take a look back at Monta Ellis and how he became our franchise player

Monta Ellis was the Most Improved Player in 06-07 as a 20 year old.  Monta became one of premier players the following season, including a nutcase February where he shot over 60% from the field.   Monta Ellis did return to court last season and did alright, considering the fact that he was recovering from a major ankle surgery and he hadn’t had a chance to go to go thru a training camp.

However those stats don’t do justice to how much Monta Ellis recovered.  Ellis came back and played 13 games and did ok, but didn’t show his usual explosion.  It is important to point out that the Warriors did go 7-6 and were playing better basketball at the time.  Ellis shut it down for about 3 weeks and came back looking like the Monta Ellis that we are used to seeing.  Here were Ellis’s stats for the last 11 games he played last season.

One thing Monta Ellis is known for his is his renowned work ethic.  If his speed is back to 100% and he has been working on his passing skills and his defense, Monta Ellis might finally be ready to take that step to superstardom and lead our team to the post season.  Is this overly optimistic? Probably.  However let’s not forget about our best player and franchise player.