Here at All U Can Heat, we’ll be running a series in which we build and contemplate (fake) trades between the Miami Heat and all 29 other NBA teams. In part seven, we looked at a trade with the Nets. In part seven, we dial-up the Detroit Pistons.
As training camp and the regular season approaches, teams are forever conjuring ways to improve their current roster.
This proposed deal targets a missing piece in the current setup of the respective rosters of the Miami Heat and the Detroit Pistons.
In his first year last season with the Heat, Wayne Ellington had a career year, averaging 10.5 points in 24.2 minutes per game, which included shooting at a 37.8 percent clip from the 3-point line. One of the premier sharp-shooters in the game, Ellington had 17 games last season where he hit four or more 3-pointers.
Notably, over the eight games in which Ellington nailed at least five 3-pointers, the Heat posted a 7-1 record. So while trading Ellington is somewhat of a risk, the Heat have proven over the last 12 months they have the necessary firepower to make up for such an absence. Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters, and Tyler Johnson were all exceptional last season from downtown, with James Johnson and Josh Richardson also being more than serviceable with room for improvement.
And this doesn’t mention newcomer Kelly Olynyk, who despite being 7-foot, converted at a 35.4 percent clip from behind three, which included hitting the corner-3 at a 56.3 percent clip.
Like Ellington, Ish Smith has been a real journeyman. Standing at just 6-foot, Smith doesn’t fit the prototypical mould of player team president Pat Riley has renowned for targeting. But what he lacks in height he more than makes up for in production.
Last season, Smith averaged 9.4 points and 5.2 assists in 24.1 minutes per game as a member of the Pistons. One of the quickest guards in the league with the ball, Smith is truly a pass-first point guard, who makes up for his lack of size and outside shot by trying to set up his teammates wherever possible.
Over the course of last season, Smith had 26 games where he registered seven or more assists. This included five games of posting 10 or more assists, in which the Pistons posted a 4-1 record. Considering the Heat ranked 22nd in assists last season, Smith’s insertion into the rotation would clearly help in this department.
Furthermore, Smith ranked fourth in the league for assist-to-turnover ratio for players who competed in at least 60 games at 3.73.
For the Pistons, Ellington clearly helps to alleviate their glaring perimeter shooting woes. Last season, the Pistons ranked 28th overall in 3-point percentage, hitting at a 33.0 percent clip. The addition of Ellington, along with the addition of guard Avery Bradley, should assist in shoring up area of the Pistons’ game.
But above all else, Smith provides the Heat with a real point of difference. After Dragic, the Heat don’t possess a recognised backup point guard on the roster. And while Riley and the coaching staff have protested that they can do without one, Smith’s ability to get up and down the floor, and set up players spotting up all over the court, would be an amazing fit within the scheme head coach Erik Spoelstra wishes to employ.