NBA Trade Rumors: Buzz Surrounding Potential Monta Ellis, Andrew Bogut Deals

While the NBA rumor mill won’t kick into high gear until the 2017 calendar year with the Feb. 23 trade deadline looming, there is already some early speculation surrounding marquee players in the 2016-17 season.

It is shaping up to be a lost campaign for the Dallas Mavericks, and they may move big man Andrew Bogut as a result. Elsewhere, the Indiana Pacers are stuck in neutral and could shake things up by trading Monta Ellis.

With that in mind, here is the latest buzz surrounding the two playmakers.

Middling Pacers Looking to Trade Ellis

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The Pacers were 10-10 entering Monday’s game against the Golden State Warriors despite plenty of talent in place with Paul George, Jeff Teague and Myles Turner, among others. They are yet to establish much consistency as a potential Eastern Conference contender in the early going.

According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, the Pacers have been “open to moving” Ellis as a trade that wouldn’t impact their core. Kyler suggested the Orlando Magic as a potential landing spot because former Indiana coach Frank Vogel is coaching there but added “at this point, nothing is there.”

The 31-year-old Ellis has been a productive scorer in the past, but he is nowhere near as integral to Indiana’s future as the superstar George or the 20-year-old Turner. Ellis is not an unrestricted free agent until 2019, per Spotrac, but that could inspire teams to give up more in a hypothetical swap because he would still be under team control for a couple more seasons.

Entering play Monday, the guard was averaging 10.5 points per game behind 44.1 percent shooting from the field and 31.1 percent shooting from deep.

That …

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