Retired - Retired after 2015 season
- Birthdate: 05/02/1978
- Drafted (NBA): 12th pick, 2002
- Pre-draft team: Fresno State
- Country: USA
- Hand: Right
- Agent: -
| Date | League | Transaction |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 NBA Draft | NBA | Drafted 12th overall by L.A. Clippers. |
| 4th September, 2002 | NBA | Signed four year, $7,287,307 rookie scale contract with L.A. Clippers. Included team option for 2005/06. |
| 14th July, 2004 | NBA | Traded by L.A. Clippers, along with Eddie House, to Charlotte in exchange for a 2005 second round pick (#32, Daniel Ewing) and a 2006 second round pick (#34, Paul Davis). |
| 21st September, 2004 | NBA | Charlotte exercised 2005/06 team option. |
| 2nd October, 2006 | NBA | Re-signed by Charlotte to a one year, $3,308,615 contract. |
| 13th February, 2007 | NBA | Traded by Charlotte to San Antonio in exchange for Eric Williams, a 2009 second round pick (#54, Robert Vaden) and cash. |
| 13th September, 2007 | NBA | Signed a guaranteed two year minimum salary contract with New Orleans. Included player option for 2008/09. |
| 30th June, 2008 | NBA | Exercised 2008/09 player option. |
| 28th September, 2009 | NBA | Signed an unguaranteed one year minimum salary contract with Sacramento. |
| 21st October, 2009 | NBA | Waived by Sacramento. |
| 28th September, 2010 | NBA | Signed an unguaranteed one year minimum salary contract with Denver. |
| 14th December, 2011 | NBA | Signed an unguaranteed one year minimum salary contract with Charlotte. |
| 23rd December, 2011 | NBA | Waived by Charlotte. |
| 1st March, 2012 | Puerto Rico | Signed for the remainder of the season with Brujos de Guayama. |
| 12th March, 2012 | Puerto Rico | Released by Brujos de Guayama. |
| 26th October, 2012 | NBA | Signed an unguaranteed one year minimum salary contract with Dallas. |
| 27th October, 2012 | NBA | Waived by Dallas. |
| 1st November, 2012 | D-League | Designated as an allocated player by Texas Legends. |
| 29th September, 2013 | NBA | Signed an unguaranteed one year minimum salary contract with Memphis. |
| 26th October, 2013 | NBA | Waived by Memphis. |
| 1st November, 2013 | D-League | Designated as a returning player by Texas Legends. |
| 13th April, 2014 | NBA | Signed a partially guaranteed minimum salary contract for the remainder of the season and through 2015 with New Orleans. |
| 15th July, 2014 | NBA | As a part of a three team deal, traded by New Orleans to Washington, along with Alonzo Gee, Scotty Hopson and a 2015 first round pick (#18, Sam Dekker) to Houston, in exchange for Omer Asik, Omri Casspi and cash from Houston. |
| 30th July, 2014 | NBA | Waived by Washington. |
| 11th September, 2014 | Japan | Signed a one year contract with Gunma Crane Thunders. |
| 1997 - 2002 | Fresno State (NCAA) |
| July 2002 | L.A. Clippers (Summer League) |
| September 2002 - July 2004 | L.A. Clippers (NBA) |
| July 2004 - February 2007 | Charlotte Bobcats (NBA) |
| February 2007 - June 2007 | San Antonio Spurs (NBA) |
| September 2007 - June 2009 | New Orleans Hornets (NBA) |
| September 2009 - October 2009 | Sacramento Kings (NBA) |
| September 2010 - June 2011 | Denver Nuggets (NBA) |
| December 2011 | Charlotte Bobcats (NBA) |
| March 2012 | Brujos de Guayama (Puerto Rico) |
| October 2012 | Dallas Mavericks (NBA) |
| November 2012 - June 2013 | Texas Legends (D-League) |
| September 2013 - October 2013 | Memphis Grizzlies (NBA) |
| November 2013 - April 2014 | Texas Legends (D-League) |
| April 2014 - July 2014 | New Orleans Pelicans (NBA) |
| July 2014 | Washington Wizards (NBA) |
| September 2014 - June 2015 | Gunma Crane Thunders (Japan, BJ League) |
January 10, 2011
In some additional related bookkeeping, the reason for many of the players listed in the previous list was due to the NBA's contract guarantee date. All players on NBA rosters on or after January 10th have their contracts guaranteed for the remainder of the season (future seasons are unaffected); this also includes waivers. In-season waivers are 48 hours long and do not include weekends; therefore, with the 10th of January being a Monday, players had to be waived by close of business on Wednesday 5th in order to have cleared waivers before the deadline date.
Eleven players with not fully guaranteed contracts were waived in the hours before that deadline: Steve Novak, Damien Wilkins, Jarron Collins, John Lucas III, Ime Udoka, Lester Hudson, Ronald Dupree, Brian Skinner, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Sundiata Gaines and Rodney Carney. Twenty seven unguaranteed players survived; Delonte West, Von Wafer, Brian Scalabrine, Samardo Samuels, Manny Harris, Alonzo Gee, Brian Cardinal, Melvin Ely, Gary Forbes, Jeremy Lin, Ish Smith, A.J. Price, Ike Diogu, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Ben Uzoh, Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, Shawne Williams, Malik Allen, Garret Siler, Patty Mills, Sean Marks, Darnell Jackson, Chris Quinn, Sonny Weems, Jeremy Evans, Cartier Martin and Hamady Ndiaye. Players with contracts who had already become guaranteed due to specific guarantee stipulations in their contracts were Sherron Collins, Derrick Brown, Josh McRoberts, Willie Warren, Derrick Caracter, Luther Head and Joey Dorsey.
September 28, 2010
Believe it or not, Melvin Ely is now 32. He did not play in the NBA last year, signing with the Kings for camp but failing to make the team, and then never played anywhere else either. Ely's reputation as an interior scorer persists, even though his numbers tell a less flattering story; for his career, Ely is shooting .457%, with a total rebounding percentage of only 11.7% and average D. He never advanced beyond being an OK NBA player, and with his age being what it is, he's not about to change that. It's be quite the feat to even get back to that.
July 30, 2010
Melvin Ely - The days of Melvin Ely being thought to have promise are genuinely over. The now-32 year old did not play in the NBA last season, and may never play in it again. Apart from one good season - conveniently, a contract season - Ely has been (not had) a substantial bust in his NBA career, shooting only .457% and having a career total rebounding percentage of only 11.7% (which is only just better than Luol Deng's career mark of 10.8%.) Ely can block the occasional shot, but so can many players. And most of them can grab rebounds and score better than that.
March 7, 2010
Mays started brilliantly, as you can see, but then left for undisclosed reasons and is currently unsigned. Bozeman has already been covered, and so in the interests of time, I won't do it again. Also covered was Melvin Ely; he's not listed above, for he has not played a game for the Ducks, yet he almost did, and he may have done kind of maybe once sort of.
February 10, 2010
- Melvin Ely
Ely joined the Kings for training camp, but did not make the team. Despite a shortage of size, the Kings felt that the rarely active Sean May, Kenny Thomas' expiring contract and the 5'11 Jon Brockman would suffice as backup big man options, and felt they didn't need Ely. Ely then went to China for some tryouts, at least one of which was with the Beijing Ducks. Ely may even have played a game with the team, and if he did, he totalled 14 points and 9 rebounds. It's almost impossible to tell, however, because Chinese information (in English) is almost impossible to come across, and running Chinese websites through Google Translate tends to translate the player names as well, which isn't helping anybody.
What we know for sure is this; Beijing started the year with Cedric Bozeman and James Mays as imports. Bozeman is still there and beasting, but Mays has left after posting roughly 30/11 for a couple of months. Mays was replaced by former Heat big man Ernest Brown, but an anonymous import played in a game a couple of weeks before Mays' departure. Was that man Ernest Brown, or was that man Melvin Ely, since Melvin was on trial there at the time? I do not know. And that's all the Melvin Ely news I have for you.
Melvin Ely fact: Melvin Ely has more rings than Karl Malone.