Bill Simmons Trade Value Ranking: Stephen Curry's Ankle & The Monta Ellis Trade That 'Makes So Much Sense'

Grantland's Bill Simmons has released Part 1 of his annual NBA Trade Value rankings, with the value of two notable Golden State Warriors falling since last year.

Monta Ellis fell all the way from #24 last year to his list of notable omissions this year while Stephen Curry has fallen 15 spots to #35.

(Curry) Fell 15 spots from last year's list purely for "All right, what's really going on with Curry's right ankle?" reasons...So what's the answer? Is this a potential Grant Hill situation? Do the Warriors have the worst trainer/medical situation on the planet? Is Nike slipping? Are Curry's ankles made of papier-mâché? If there was a pay-per-view special of Curry getting an MRI on his right ankle, followed by Phoenix's medical staff breaking down the results, I think I'd pay $49.99 to watch it.

With Warriors coach Mark Jackson currently controlling Curry's minutes because of concerns about the ankle, it's hard to imagine his value being even that high around the league at this moment. But listing him #35 underscores the point that he's obviously talented - as we've seen in two highly-efficient scoring performances this week - and he could indeed have enough value to net the Warriors Dwight Howard.

Simmons didn't elaborate much on his change of heart on Ellis since last year, but did include an interesting - if extremely unlikely - trade scenario in his footnote.

An Ellis/Dorrell Wright for Danny Granger/Dahntay Jones trade makes so much sense that the salaries even add up to within $108,000 of each other. I'm just sayin'.

Every time I hear Granger's name I sigh - of all the draft prospects the Warriors have passed on in the last decade or so, Granger was the one that I wanted most at the time and figured would be among the most regrettable. So yes, maybe I enjoy dreaming about Granger on this team and it works financially...but it would be shocking if the Indiana Pacers actually bit on this one, even if Granger is "the captain of the "Guys Paid Like Franchise Players Who Aren't Franchise Players" All-Stars." One need only look at the Pacers' roster to figure that one out.

Ultimately all that the falling trade value of the Warriors' stars on this list indicates is exactly what Simmons says in his commentary on Curry.

The good news for Warriors fans: Their team made a $500 million mistake by choosing Charles Jenkins over Jeremy Lin on December 8 (it's true, look it up), then wasted its amnesty on $4 million of Charlie Bell so they could overpay DeAndre Jordan with an offer sheet (didn't work), leaving them stuck with Andris "Why Didn't You Amnesthize and Put Me Out of My Own Misery????" Biedrins (owed $9 million each of the next two years) and little cap flexibility this summer. Oh, wait, that's horrible news. Speaking of Linsanity …

The Warriors are not in a good place right now, as they work to play their way out of a lottery pick to continue the cycle of mediocrity.