Ellington among best free agents
Heat guard benefits from a fast-moving market
MIAMI — Miami Heat guard Wayne Ellington is shooting up the charts in NBA free agency.
Mostly, it is a matter of timing.
With just about all the big names off the board since Sunday’s start of the negotiating process, and with players allowed to formally sign agreements as soon as Friday, when the NBA’s annual personnel moratorium comes to a close, Ellington, 30, finds himself among the options still available.
According to ESPN’s list of top remaining free agents, the Heat 3-point specialist ranks eighth among veterans still unsigned around the league, behind only, in order, Houston Rockets center Clint Capela, Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker, Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine, Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, Los Angeles Clippers center Montrezl Harrell and San Antonio Spurs forward Kyle Anderson, with Los Angeles Lakers center Brook Lopez ninth on that list and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Nemanja Bjelica 10th. Bjelica signed Thursday with the 76ers.
Of those 10, Ellington would be among the simplest to sign, with Capela, Smart, Parker, LaVine, Nurkic, Harrell and Anderson all restricted free agents, with their teams having the right to match outside offers. That leaves Ellington, on that list, ranked as the leading unrestricted free agent.
Of the reasoning for Ellington’s place-
ment on the list, ESPN Kevin Pelton wrote:
“It speaks to how quickly free agency has moved this summer that Ellington could be considered the best unrestricted free agent three days in. Isaiah Thomas had a higher projection, but Ellington’s ability to stretch the floor and come off screens is an easier fit in almost any situation. He’s a career 38 percent 3-point shooter who made 2.9 of them per game last season off the bench in Miami. At this point, Ellington is probably looking at offers for the midlevel exception at most.”
The full NBA midlevel exception is $8.6 million for next season. Because Ellington has early Bird Rights with the Heat, the Heat, operating above the NBA salary cap, can offer a contract that starts at $10.9 million, a possibility limited by the team’s proximity to the punitive luxury tax.
Ellington, conversely, ranks No. 10 on a similar list of remaining free agents posted by USA Today, fourth on that list among unrestricted free agents.
The USA Today list going into Thursday: 1. Capela, 2. LaVine, 3. Smart, 4. Nurkic, 5. Parker, 6. Isaiah Thomas, 7. Luc Mbah a Moute, 8. Anderson, 9. Lopez, 10. Ellington. Like Ellington, Thomas, Mbah a Moute and Lopez are unrestricted free agents.
As a matter of perspective, Ellington started free agency ranked No. 30 on USA Today’s initial list.
Beyond Ellington, the Heat’s other free agents are Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, Luke Babbitt, Jordan Mickey and Derrick Walton Jr.
Ellington is coming off a season when he converted a franchise-record 227 3-pointers, averaging a career-high 11.2 points per game. Ellington closed sixth in the NBA in 3-pointers made, an NBA record for 3-pointers scored as a reserve.
The Heat’s situation with Ellington is complicated by the fact that shooting guards Dion Waiters, Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, Rodney McGruder and Derrick Jones Jr. all return, with Wade potentially again added to the mix if he opts to put off retirement. iwinderman@ sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ ira.winderman