Lakers Express Interest In Golden State's Monta Ellis

(Ken Berger/CBSSports.com ) -  The Warriors and representatives for Monta Ellisare working cooperatively to see if a trade to a contending team can be arranged, a deal that would likely happen around the NBA draft later this month, a person with knowledge of the discussions told CBSSports.com."It's pretty hot," the person familiar with the talks said.The Trail Blazers, Lakers, Hawks, Bulls, and 76ers are among the teams expressing the most sincere interest, league sources said Thursday. A possible deal between Golden State and Philadelphia involving Ellis and Andre Iguodala is a "50-50" proposition at the moment, a person with knowledge of those talks said.

The Sixers have fielded several calls about Iguodala, but executives who've spoken with them detect reluctance in the Philadelphia front office to trade Iguodala in a salary dump. The Sixers want a player of value in return, sources said.

Ellis, a prolific scorer who may not fit long term in an undersized backcourt with Stephen Curry under defensive-minded coach Mark Jackson, would be a good fit for a playoff-contending team seeking an additional perimeter scorer and penetrator to take some of the load off its primary scorer.

Ellis, 25, has two more years at $11 million each with an early-termination option for 2013-14, also at $11 million. In 80 games for Golden State last season, he averaged 24.1 points and a career-high 5.6 assists.