While the Sacramento Kings made very few moves at the trade deadline, the one they did make sent Keon Ellis to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Once the Cavs finish up their season, Ellis will be an unrestricted free agent, waiting on an extension that may not come. It all depends on the postseason.
Ellis went undrafted in 2022, with the Kings eventually picking him up on a two-way contract. He played for their G League affiliate, and eventually started getting minutes on the NBA roster. It was the type of progression a lot of rookies often go through, particularly the undrafted ones.
Being that Ellis had the potential to be a major 3&D player for the Kings, it's not unreasonable to expect that he would have gotten regular minutes on the main roster. As fans know, that didn't happen as he spent a lot of time on the bench, especially under head coach Doug Christie.
As part of a three-team trade, Sacramento finally freed Ellis and sent him to Cleveland with Dennis Schroder. During the regular season, Ellis found more frequent minutes, though it has trailed off in the postseason. That could be an indication of how the Cavs see him going forward.
Ellis might not be a Cavalier for much longer
So far, the playoffs have been rather quiet for Ellis. He has only played in six of the 12 postseason games the Cavs have had so far, and gotten very limited minutes in those six games. Schroder has been a more regular bench player for Cleveland, not to mention more productive.
The bigger problem for Ellis is that he's not doing much with the minutes he is getting, an issue that came up more than once when he was on the Kings. It's hard to want to give a player more time when the extent of their contributions to the game is one three-pointer in six minutes on the court.
While it should go without saying that the playoffs are a different beast than the regular season, it says a lot that the Cavs are limiting his time on the court. It's also interesting that Cleveland has yet to offer him an extension. To be fair, they have been tied up with battling their way through the playoffs.
It's likely that no announcement will be made until after the Cavs' postseason run is complete, however that happens. If they do well, such as making it to the Eastern Conference Finals or even the NBA Finals, they're more likely to stick with what is working. If not, Ellis might be job hunting again.
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