Miami Heat guard Wayne Ellington: Then, now and what’s to come

Now

Ellington’s present in Miami finds him at the height of his NBA powers, averaging a career-high 11.2 points per game and proving to be one of the Heat’s most valuable offensive players throughout the season.

With Ellington on the floor, the Heat operate with a 106.2 offensive rating, good for one of the best in the league at that mark. But when he goes to the bench, the team’s offense plummets to just a 99.6 offensive rating. With their recent offensive struggles, it’s no wonder that Ellington has shot just 4-for-32 from 3 during the last four games (he missed the team’s recent game against Houston with a shoulder injury).

Ellington has taken on a similar role that legendary shooter and champion Ray Allen had with the Heat. Head coach Erik Spoelstra runs him off of a number of screens over the course of a possession (very similar to what Golden State does with Klay Thompson as well) to get him open, knowing that he only needs minimal space to get an efficient look at 3.

This threat has even served as a useful tool late in games where Spoelstra will deploy Ellington as a decoy, even leading to a game winning layup in Toronto, as the defense over-rotated to him out on the 3-point line.

Already this season, Ellington has topped his career-high in scoring, with a 28-point effort in a win against the Dallas Mavericks, and has converted on more than five 3-point attempts thirteen different times.

In a contract year, Ellington is putting himself in the conversation with some of the best shooters in the game, currently sitting at 39 percent on the year (averaging almost 8 attempts per game). This puts him ahead of players like Kyle Lowry, James Harden, Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard.