Miami Heat 1-on-1: Talking all about guard Wayne Ellington

And what part of his game do you want to see him further develop, moving forward?

Rahming: For Ellington to take his next significant step forward, he’s got to channel his inner Allen. There is one aspect of Allen’s game that is always overlooked. Everyone knows he can shoot it off the catch, but what helped him get into the Hall of Fame, was his sneaky ability to put the ball on the deck a couple of times and either get a teammate open, or get himself at least a lightly contested layup. Most times, those drives to the basket resulted in open layups with defenders caught staring with their mouths open. Out of all the shots Ellington took last season, 21.5 percent of them were the spot-up variety. For a Heat team that prides itself on ball movement and positionless basketball, this is a perfect number. I would not like to see this number increase, unless of course he’s somehow more wide open this season. One thing the Heat do well for Ellington, is getting him the ball from a handoff. In almost all of the scenarios, he receives the ball and is looking to shoot right away. The handoff is the shot he’s taken the most, at 34.2 percent. The beauty of Ellington in this play type is that he doesn’t have to shoot immediately off the catch; the offensive scheme allows him time and space to take a dribble or two, to create a little more separation. These are the in-the-moment decisions where he can dribble the ball towards the rim, as opposed to the side looking for a 3-pointer. With all the combo guards on the roster, there isn’t much room from Ellington to show off his improved skills in the pick and roll, but something else I’d like to see from him is to raise his shots attempted as a cutter. Last season, 2.3 percent of his total shots were of this variety. It doesn’t have to be much, but if he were able to get it to four or five percent, we as fans would see more Heat magic, like the end of their overtime affair versus the first place Toronto Raptors. He essentially iced the game for the Heat, and moved them even closer to securing a playoff berth.

Ebrahim: I would like to see him put the ball on the floor a bit more; I know it’s something that he has in his bag of tricks and has used before, but developing those skills of being able to handle the ball and make decisions as a ball-handler, would further his game even more. Teams are already focusing on trying to take away his long game and there’s no doubt that the defense will be closing out on his shot harder than they might on others. Countering a hard close out by driving past the defender would cause a scramble in the defense, and with the right ball-handling and decision-making, he could either drive to the hole or make the right pass. Seeing that ability develop from him would definitely increase his value and push the Heat to sign him to a long-term deal, following this season.

Welcome back, Wayne.