Mar 13, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Milwaukee Bucks point guard Monta Ellis (11) passes the ball as Washington Wizards center Nene (42) looks on during the second half at the Verizon Center. The Wizards defeated the Bucks 106 – 93. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA Today Sports

Is there something in the air in Milwaukee? It certainly seems that way if you take a look at and evaluate the way Monta Ellis has led the Milwaukee Bucks in March.

The erratic shooting guard finished February on a high note, dropping 27 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and six steals on the Houston Rockets, including this incredible (read: lucky) game-winner.

In the month of March, Ellis has shown something that is hardly ever related with the 27-year-old — efficiency. We all know how much Monta loves to jack up contested jumpers and put points on the scoreboard, but he very rarely does so in a way that is beneficial to his team. Take a look at his short chart of this season (viewer discretion is strongly advised):

Gulp. For those unfamiliar with NBA.com short charts – red is bad. Like really bad. All the areas on the floor marked in red denote that the player is shooting below league average from that particular spot. Yellow signifies a shooting percentage just slightly above the average, while green indicates a significantly higher shooting percentage.

The seven games the Bucks have played this month have been a whole other story. Ellis is putting up 27.4 points and 6.4 assists per game. What is really admirable is his 54.3% field goal percentage. Take a look at his chart from the last seven games:

Lots of green in this one, and green is money. His 28.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc is not particularly appealing, but you can’t have it all with Monta.

This kind of a hot streak is just what Milwaukee needs in order to improve their playoff position. Unfortunately, despite Ellis’ terrific performances, the Bucks are only 4-3 this month. Brandon Jennings is also averaging a double-double with 15.4 points and 11.6 assists in March.

Although Ellis has shown signs of efficiency earlier in his career (averaged 53.1 FG% in 2007-08), it is most likely just a matter of time before he starts stringing together ill-advised jumpers, so the Bucks better get the most out of him while he is red-hot.

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Feb 13, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings (3) during the game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Bradley Center. The Bucks beat the 76ers 94-92. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Jennings is set to become a restricted free agent this summer, and one team that definitely will be in the bidding war for the point guard will be the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks were interested in dealing for Jennings before the Feb. 21 trade deadline, but ultimately didn’t have anything worthwhile to offer in return for the 23-year-old.

According to Alex Kennedy, of Hoopsworld, Jennings would love to play for Dallas:

“Who wouldn’t want to play in an environment like this every night? You’ve got an owner who’s so into his team and everything like that. Every time you see the Mavs, you see him cheering or going crazy. They won a championship. They’re about winning.”

The Mavericks missed out on Deron Williams, among other big-time free agents last summer, but with Dirk Nowitzki’s patience running low, Mark Cuban needs to bring in something that will help the Mavs return to the spotlight.

Jennings is not your typical star player that is good enough to build a franchise around, but he is still a solid player.

The interest seems to be mutual, but the Bucks retain the right to match any offer that Jennings gets this summer, ultimately holding the right to keep him in Milwaukee.

With a bunch of 1-year contracts, the Mavericks will have a significant amount of cap space and could offer a so called poison-pill contract to Jennings, making it hard for the Bucks to justify matching the offer. The Houston Rockets are a great example of this, as they landed Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik, by offering them more money than their former teams were willing to commit.

Regardless of what happens, we have a very interesting summer to look forward to.

@VytisLasaitis