From Philly's standpoint, the 6-3 Ellis is barely tall enough to defend shooting guards. He was third in the NBA in steals this season, but 76ers coach Doug Collins prefers disciplined defenders to those who sacrifice positioning to pad their stats. Furthermore, Ellis can't come close to matching the defensive contributions of Iguodala, who was able to guard shooting guards and small forwards. Ellis' presence means Turner will be defending more threes than twos, and that could present a problem.
"I think of Turner as a two and not a three," the scout said. "Iguodala can guard LeBron James when they face Miami, but if the trade does happen, who's going to guard him?
"If you take Iguodala off of Philadelphia, it hurts them more than taking Ellis off of Golden State," he added.
Philadelphia, the league's eighth-best defensive team this season in terms of efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions), would obviously be looking for an offensive upgrade should the trade be completed. Elton Brand led the 76ers with his 15.6 PPG scoring average, so dealing for a player like Ellis, who was the Warriors best scorer at 24.1 PPG, makes sense on paper.
But offense isn't just about volume. It's about being productive with each and every possession. No matter what pace a team prefers to play at, it will finish the game with roughly the same amount of possessions as its opponents. So while the Warriors were seventh in total scoring (103.4 PPG), they were tied for just 12th in offensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions), and the discrepancy can be attributed to Ellis' style of play.
Ellis is a high-volume shooter who finished the season as the eighth-best scorer in the NBA, but he ranked only 170th in the NBA in true shooting percentage because he takes so many ill-advised shots (long two-pointers, forced jumpers, etc.). So yes, his 24.1 PPG helped the Warriors score more points than 23 teams over the course of the season, but Ellis' league-leading 20.1 field goal attempts per game kept the team from realizing its offensive potential. According to 82games.com, Ellis' plus-minus rating was a ghastly -233 for the season, which was the worst on the Warriors outside of Andris Biedrins' -236.
Furthermore, Ellis used more possessions per 40 minutes (26.5) than point guard Stephen Curry (23.9), which raises questions about how he'd coexist with up-and-coming playmaker Jrue Holiday in Philadelphia.