Miami Heat Roundtable: Checking in after a loss to the Orlando Magic

Do you think Wayne Ellington will find his stroke ever again?

Tachauer: Totally. I mean, he has to, right? Last season, Ellington also had periods of time where he just couldn’t get into the right groove. But eventually, he got back on track. And The Man With The Golden Arm continued to do what he does best: shoot lights out from downtown. That doesn’t mean that it’ll be any time soon though. So the Heat shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking they can solely rely on the 3-ball. However, there’s no need to get down on Ellington either. If he just keeps doing his thing, his shot will come back.

Mora: With Rodney McGruder out and the bench disappearing behind-the-arc, we will desperately need it. We don’t have another option. So he’ll have to eventually find it. We’ll definitely need to rely on it if we want to compete in the 3-point game.

Eyrich: 1-for-5 shooting on the night just won’t do it for Ellington. We saw this off and on last season and unfortunately that’s the type of shooter Ellington is. He’s valuable in big moments and when he’s hitting, it’s great. But otherwise, that’s just something that the Heat will have to sacrifice when it comes to Ellington.

Slater: I have no doubt Ellington will return to form. He had much longer stretches of poor shooting last year and eventually found it. Ellington was 0-for-4 against Orlando and aside from one heave at the end of the third quarter, the other three attempts were good, open looks that the offense typically produces. That’s an encouraging sign for Ellington. He isn’t forcing up shots to get himself out of a slump, he’s still working through the offensive progressions and taking the open looks. They’ll fall eventually.