Monta Ellis Trade Rumors False, According to Warriors Owner

The Monta Ellis trade rumors might not be real after all. If we believe Golden State Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob, the Ellis trade rumors never existed in the first place. It's an interesting development for the team, especially if there are no teams really expressing an interest in acquiring Ellis from the Warriors.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, there appears to be more speculation about a possible trade than realistic offers being made. When Lacob was asked about a Monta Ellis trade taking place, he stated that, " I don't think he will be. I mean, you want me to give odds now? There's a tremendous amount of speculation in the press, and I can't believe where all this is coming from -- because the stories are completely fabricated, by you or whoever. I don't know who's fabricating them ."

Before his interview took place, there were rumors that Ellis could be going to teams like the Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, or even the Philadelphia 76ers. Several teams were said to have interest in trading for Ellis, and that they had already approached Golden State about working out a deal. No deal really came to fruition (at this point), and now it comes out that most of the rumors might have been non-existent in the first place.

The trade rumors never made that much sense in the first place, especially because the Warriors would be giving up their leading scorer in what seemed to amount to a salary dump. The Warriors would be hard-pressed to compete for the 2011-12 Western Conference Playoffs if they dealt away Ellis right now, and ownership has to be pretty aware of that situation. The best case scenario for the Warriors is to have a really good draft at the end of June and add assets that could help the current roster.

With players like David Lee and Stephen Curry already on the roster, it would seem that the Warriors simply need to add a few more pieces to get that team into contention. It is still a very young team as well, so maybe a few more seasons of development could be what the doctor ordered as well. Keeping Ellis, who is the best scoring guard they have, could be an integral part in making sure seats are selling as well.

The new ownership group in the Bay Area certainly wants to see the team succeed, but it might not be beneficial at all to give up one of their better assets in exchange for role players from another franchise. Maybe that is something that Lacob already knows, because he certainly didn't mince words when asked about trading Ellis.