Keon Ellis is a player who the Los Angeles Lakers and their fans will be all too familiar with after years of speculation involving him as a potential target. Since the start of that chatter, the former Sacramento Kings guard has now found yet another new NBA home. It is still not Los Angeles.
Shams Charania reported on Twitter/X: "Free agent guard Keon Ellis has agreed to a two-year, $18 million guaranteed deal with the Brooklyn Nets, sources tell ESPN."
At first, that contract may not look all too daunting at only $18 million. However, after an extra pause, digesting that annual average for a player of Ellis' caliber should be understandably hard to stomach. The Nets will be paying him $9 million per year on this deal.
In the grand scheme of things, $9 million on average is not a ton of money. In the specific instance of Ellis in particular, that is an overpay.
Keon Ellis is making far too much for Lakers to have wanted him
Ellis has a good bit of defensive upside on any team he plays for. That much is true. The problem with him comes from the offensive side of the basketball. Keon is just far too limited to be committing $9 million to.
For the Nets, it makes sense. While their moves have indicated some desire to be competitive, they are ultimately not in a massive hurry to win anything of significance next season. Taking a flyer on a once highly sought after trade target gives them a worthwhile gamble.
The Lakers, meanwhile, are in a pressing hurry to put a title contender around Luka Doncic. LeBron James' exit from Los Angeles gave them the extra wiggle room in free agency, but that spending still needs to be calculated to fill out an entire rotation. Overcommitting too much to a player like Ellis would have hurt them.
For comparison, former Laker Jordan Goodwin got three years and $19 million on his new contract from the Phoenix Suns. Goodwin is a far more complete player than Ellis, earning noticeably less on a yearly average.
The Lakers have employed far too many one-way talents on their roster over the last few seasons. This offseason gives them an opportunity to finally get things right and fill out the team with role players who play both ends of the basketball court.
Ellis is not a complete non-factor on offense, but he got played out of the Cleveland Cavaliers' rotations during the NBA Playoffs due to his limitations on that end. That is not a player who the Lakers should be taking a yearly $9 million gamble on.
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