Reactions to story from The Knicks Fix

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle: "For the moment, though, Monta Ellis is the Warriors. He had to be, for there was no other foreseeable outcome once Baron Davis left."Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News: "I think Andris

Monta Ellis gets 6/$66m from Warriors Somewhere, Ben Gordon (adjust Ellis' numbers for Nellieball) is peeved.

This is from the Newsday blog a few days ago, the writer Alan Hahn can’t help but wonder if Monta Ellis’ contract extension could mean anything for Jamal Crawford. A great deal of Ellis’ success has to be attributed to Don Nelson’s up-tempo philosophy. System can be an often overlooked yet critical element for a player. Ellis clearly isn’t a half-court point guard and he isn’t a traditional shooting guard. He’s the very definition of a combo guard and if you put him in a halfcourt system his flaws — poor court vision, weak perimeter defender — would show vividly. But in the run-and-gun, Ellis is a dynamo. And this is why I think Jamal Crawford might have a big year this season with Mike D’Antoni at the helm.The up-tempo will only make Crawford a more dangerous player on the offensive end and also hide (or at least overshadow) his defensive issues. What we know is the guy can score in bunches and when he’s on, he’s impossible to defend. Crawford is five years older than Ellis (who turns 23 in October), but you have to think he should be able to command a similar contract - similar, I said, not exact - if he puts up the kind of season this year that D’Antoni thinks he can in his system. D’Antoni has told me and others that he thinks Crawford can reach all-star status playing in his system. And if Jamal can become an all-star and drop 20 per for a second straight year (of course winning would help, too, not to mention a playoff appearance for the first time in his career), it wouldn’t be surprising to see him opt out of his current contract next summer. He would walk away from the final two years and over $19 million if he knew he could get $11 mil per in his next contract. Pushing 29, time isn’t on his side. Does Jamal Crawford walk away from $19mil over 2 years? I’m thinking not, it would like be a futile attempt to earn more money. If Crawford did have that magical all-star level season at 29 years of age …. well there’s only one reaction. “He’s a system playerâ€, “It was D’Antoniâ€, “He won’t produce that elsewhereâ€. And even at that level of disbelief Crawford will also need a winning record and playoff appearance just to get that level of interest in him. Otherwise it’s a “he’s a ball hogâ€, “inefficient scorerâ€, “never been to the playoffs, never willâ€, “born loserâ€. Tell me please which team pays Jamal Crawford $10million next summer? Corey Maggette is a lot to closer to a match for Crawford. Maggette was staring down at nothing above an MLE level offer until GSW (1) bottom out losing their franchise player with no plan B in place, (2) panicked, and (3) grossly overpaid Maggette. Maggette took a huge risk opting out and shouldn’t have gotten away with it. If Crawford opted out he’d be walking down a similar street. Is that really a risk he’s willing to take with a guaranteed $19mil on the table? Very unlikely.

On his blog Alan Hahn wonders what impact Monta Ellis’ contract will have on Jamal Crawford, and Mike D’Antoni believes Crawford can reach All-Star status under his watch. “Crawford is five years older than Ellis (who turns 23 in October), but you have to think he should be able to command a similar contract - similar, I said, not exact - if he puts up the kind of season this year that D’Antoni thinks he can in his system. D’Antoni has told me and others that he thinks Crawford can reach all-star status playing in his system. And if Jamal can become an all-star and drop 20 per for a second straight year (of course winning would help, too, not to mention a playoff appearance for the first time in his career), it wouldn’t be surprising to see him opt out of his current contract next summer. He would walk away from the final two years and over $19 million if he knew he could get $11 mil per in his next contract. Pushing 29, time isn’t on his side.†No one’s been more critical of Crawford’s game than I have, mostly because I don’t want him making decisions with the ball all game. And I do think if the right deal is there you should move him in a heartbeat. But, it will be interesting and exciting to see what D’Antoni has up his sleeve. I hope it includes a lot of screens and off the ball movement a la Rip Hamilton.