North Carolina Tar Heels: Ellington to the Heat
Former North Carolina Tar Heels guard Wayne Ellington and former Wake Forest Demon Deacons forward James Johnson were signed in order to try to plug the hole in the Miami Heat.
North Carolina Tar Heels guard Wayne Ellington was one of those guys that was a free agent in this free agent class of great money. He also had been overlooked despite improving his performance with the Brooklyn Nets. Then something happened that no one expected.
That something was the defection of Dwyane Wade to the Chicago Bulls. Wade’s move took a shot at the shooting guard depth of the Heat. To help address this problem, the Heat reached out to Ellington. He signed a two year deal worth twelve million total.
That is a nice raise for Ellington, who has been the definition of a journeyman throughout his NBA career. He will fit quite nicely in the Heat system. Shooters can play off of the skill sets of guys like Hassan Whiteside or Chris Bosh if they are healthy. Ellington is also not going to keep the ball away from Justise Winslow and others.
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An additional piece was also added by the Heat in the form of forward James Johnson. The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon was part of the playoff bound Toronto Raptors last season. His great benefit will be his ability to play the three and four positions and guard both positions. His acquisition makes sense since Luol Deng was the other key member lost by the Heat.
Still Johnson and Ellington are not Deng and Wade. They won’t replace the production of those two and the Heat are still likely to take a step back as a result. Pat Reilly will be banking on a bigger role for Goran Dragic at the point and more development from Winslow. He also will have to be hoping Bosh can carry a big load when he comes back.
This is a good fit for Ellington and Johnson, but the Heat’s fate is no clearer than it was before these moves.