JULY 13, 6:53pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
JULY 12, 8:35pm: Free agent guard Wayne Ellington will re-sign with the Heat, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Ellington will receive $6.27MM for one year, the same amount he made in 2017/18. Negotiations lasted almost two weeks because the organization didn’t want to go too far into luxury tax territory, Jackson adds.
The Heat will officially become a taxpaying team, according to Bobby Marks on ESPN Now. As Marks details, a total team salary of $127MM puts Miami over the tax threshold by $3.2MM and gives the club a projected tax bill of $4.9MM so far.
With 12 guaranteed contracts on their books so far for the upcoming season, the Heat still have their $5.3MM taxpayer mid-level exception available. Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem are candidates to return and fill a couple of the club’s open roster slots.
The Heat will continue to try to trim salary, with Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Johnson among the players being made available in trade, a rival executive tells Jackson. Ellington isn’t a trade candidate, but for what it’s worth, he’ll be able to veto any deal this season because of the one-year Bird rights restriction.
Ellington, 30, has been a deadly shooter off the bench in his two seasons with the Heat. He averaged a career-best 11.2 PPG during the 2017/18 season, sinking 227 3-pointers and shooting 39% from long distance.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Get some!!! And they get him for the same amount as this last year for only 1 year? That will give the Heat bird rights next year to sign a longer deal, and reward him for the work he has put in. I think this also puts them right around the luxury tax, with only a little bit to shed if anything, and they could use their tax exception to pay Wade and/or Melo
…I at least think this means something else is coming b/c he could have gotten someone’s midlevel at least
Teams have been shying away from using the full MLE because of the hardcap it seems.
Good player and equally good man. Loved him when he played for Cleveland. Entertaining player for sure.
Good move for Miami, really thought he could command more than that, but this makes it a great deal for Miami, counting all the other overpaid players, that should help them.
The Lakers really would have been smart to sign Ellington because they really need a pure shooter unless they really are going to give Svi a shot at playing 12-16 mins a game. I really can’t see that happening though but hey who knows from all reports the kid is a dead range shooter and plays pretty good defense as well so they just might give him the chance. More importantly they should be on the phone with Jahlil Okafor right now because he has only been in the league 3 years and was never given a real chance to actually do something. With LeBron,Ingram and Lonzo the Lakers are going to stretch the floor and there will be plenty of opportunities for a big man to get open. You can’t tell me that Okafor doesn’t have the talent because the kid has raw talent anyway you look at it. He just needs to be in the right position and the Lakers really need a Center so it’s a perfect fit and should have been done already. If not him then at least Greg Monroe for the veteran minimum since the Suns are still on the hook. I think either of those 2 would be an instant upgrade from the 3 Cs the Lakers have now! Sign Jahlil already!
Ellington wanted to stay obviously. There was more money out there for him, but he said all along he wanted to stay, and this clearly makes that true
Most definitely, formerlyz!! That HAS TO be the case, because I’m 100% positive Ellington had to have left money on the table to sign with Miami..
There are SEVERAL contenders like the aforementioned Lakers, Philly, Boston, Wolves, Nuggets, Spurs, Portland, Utah, etc. COUNTLESS teams that would have killed for Ellington, and his dead-eye outside shooting, for that price…
So, like I said, I would be about 99% sure he had at least a handful of better offers, compared to the one he finally settled for and agreed upon with the Heat..
Miami definitely got a steal yere, and good for them and Ellington. He’s quite clearly where he wants to be, and hopefully his hard work and his dedication continue to pay off for him. Hopefully, he can have another solid season, and ultimately hell get rewarded with a multi year contract next season…
Absolutely dumbfounded how they got him for the same rate as last year..Just can’t believe Miami stole him like they did..
As you can tell, I’m pretty excited about it. This guy changed the narrative on his career with incredible work. The Heat asked a lot from him. Not everyone is willing to do what he has done.
What a weird comment… Lonzo stretching the floor for Jah Okafor? Perhaps you should be touting your services as consultant to the Lakeshow this season
This would have been a better piece for Lebron than anybody L.A. added.