From college stardom to a NBA journeyman, Wayne Ellington finally found consistency with the Miami Heat.
One of the trademarks of this current era of Miami Heat basketball, is a collection of longtime NBA journeymen finding a permanent home and experiencing their very best period of basketball, in what has been an uneven career for some.
Maybe one the best examples of that is sharpshooter Wayne Ellington, who arrived in Miami during the chaotic free agency of 2016, which saw franchise cornerstone Dwyane Wade depart for the Chicago Bulls.
At just 28 years old, a two-year investment in Ellington made sense, as the Heat pieced together a serviceable roster.
The story of Ellington’s career up until this point has been one very common of a journeyman in the NBA. The Heat mark his seventh team since coming into the league in 2009 out of University of North Carolina, and his arrival in Miami ended a stretch of five years where he spent a season or less with a particular team.
Despite bouncing around the league, Ellington was consistent in his performance and his ability to stay on the floor and contribute. He appeared in more than 62 games in six of his nine NBA seasons. That number expects to rise to seven out of nine by the conclusion of this year, as Ellington has already appeared in 54 games for the Heat.
From college standout at North Carolina where he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament after leading the Tar Heels to a championship, to a career in the NBA that has proven consistent amidst the chaos, landing him in his most stable situation to date, let’s take a look back at the career of Wayne Ellington.
Then
Wayne Ellington arrived on campus in Chapel Hill, NC during one of the most fruitful times in the storied program’s history, coming off a championship in 2005 and building towards another, led by the future Miami Heat sharpshooter in 2009.
Ellington’s time with Roy Williams at North Carolina was full of trips deep into the NCAA Tournament, before the team finally broke through again in 2009, beating Michigan State (Ellington scored 19 points in the title game).
As a sophomore, Ellington produced his best numbers of his three-year career, scoring nearly 17 points per game and became nationally known for dramatic shots like this one against Clemson, that featured future NBAer Trevor Booker.
The road to the NBA began in the 2009 draft, highlighted by top pick Blake Griffin, as well as future All-Stars Steph Curry, DeMar DeRozan and Ricky Rubio, along with longtime players Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and even current Heat teammate James Johnson.
Ellington was selected 28th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who famously passed on Curry to take Jonny Flynn from Syracuse as well as Ricky Rubio, who would stay in Minnesota for many years. The poor drafting led to poor performance on the court, as the Timberwolves won just 15, 17 and 26 games during Ellington’s tenure, where he was relegated to a bench role.
The lack of winning prompted changes in Minnesota, and Ellington was shipped to Memphis in the summer of 2012 for Dante Cunningham. While he had some brief offensive flashes in Memphis (including a 25-point explosion against the LeBron James-led Miami Heat), Ellington became a true journeyman in the league, bouncing from Memphis to Cleveland, Dallas and Los Angeles in the following years.
Ellington spent a proper full season with the Los Angeles Lakers, before choosing to sign with the Brooklyn Nets in 2015. Coincidentally enough, he scored another career highlight against the Miami Heat with a 26-point game, earning the reputation as a Heat killer over the years. That reputation surely played into the Heat’s attraction to Ellington in free agency of 2016, where he finally earned a stable contract, inking with Miami for two years worth $12 million.
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.
What’s To Come
For possibly the first time in his career, Ellington will go into the offseason with a tremendous amount of leverage and the Miami Heat will have a decision to make as to where he fits in their future plans.
His value to the current iteration of the Heat is well-defined. He is immensely valuable for them offensively and when he is shooting to his averages, their offense reaches a different level as the need to honor the 3-point threat also opens up other opportunities for his teammates.
The Heat’s top two-man lineups in net rating (with over 150 minutes played together) feature five combinations of Ellington, including some of the highest offensive ratings.
All of this speaks to his value moving forward with the Heat, especially if this team is going to remain intact for another year or two, as these contracts continue to play out. But the Heat have a financial problem in that they don’t have a ton of flexibility to pay him more than he’s making currently.
If another team happens to swoop in with a larger offer than what the Heat can, it would be irresponsible for Ellington to not give it any consideration. He’s a player who has meandered through the league, often making much closer to the league minimum than a max deal. If he were to get an offer of something closer to $10 million per year, which is certainly possible if the fit is right, the Heat can’t match that type of money and risk losing him.
Next: Miami Heat Bam Adebayo: Then, now and what's to come
Ultimately, Ellington’s future will come down to what he’s looking for, but for the first time in his career, he holds leverage and can choose the best situation for himself moving forward.