Wayne Ellington, An Open Roster Opportunity

Awhile back, our own Valerie Morales wrote about Wayne Ellington’s contract being non-guaranteed.

Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times elaborated on the details of the contract.

"The Lakers signed Ellington to a non-guaranteed contract.  If he can stick with the team past training camp, $315,656 of his salary will be guaranteed on Nov. 15, and $581,692 of his contract locks in if he’s on the roster as of Dec. 1."

Nick Young’s injury may have opened the door for Wayne Ellington.

That six-week timetable is right around November 15th.  They eighth-week timetable takes him past December 1st.  The timing could not be aligned any better for Wayne Ellington.

During Laker practices, Wayne Ellington has shown his perimeter shooting prowess and aggression towards the hoop.  In any recently released video coverage, he’s the only one shooting from 20′ and beyond.

Here’s some footage before training camp began.

While Nick Young‘s isolation skills along the perimeter cannot be replaced, perimeter shooting from the role players is a definite need out of pick-and-roll play, as well as any implementation of the Princeton offense.   Despite inconsistent playing time for the Dallas Mavericks last season, he managed to shoot 42.4% behind the arc. He is heavily reliant on his 3-point shot as a weapon.  He shoots nearly 47% of his total field goal attempts from that area.  His volume shooting from behind the arc has increased over the past three years, solidifying his role as a shooter on his earlier teams.  His career shooting average behind the arc is 38.6%, and there’s no doubt that his jumpshot has the best arc of the entire team, as shown by the videos above.

Attacking the basket is a secondary weapon for him, and he relies on his perimeter shooting to draw in his defender.  There, he can get a step on his defender and get to the hoop.  He’s a great finisher at the hoop.  He averages over 61.1% within 3′ from the hoop, and 93.3% last season, likely in garbage time.  His mid-range abilities are lacking a bit, but if there’s a spot for Wayne Ellington, it is to be the 3-and-D guy at the shooting guard slot.  Wesley Johnson has claimed that position at small forward, and Ellington is a better match up strictly against shooting guards.

Wayne Ellington has jumped between four teams during the past five seasons.  Jeremy Lin faced a similar situation early in his career, bouncing from the Golden State Warriors to the New York Knicks, then the Houston Rockets.  Lin didn’t get a chance to shine until the New York Knicks roster was decimated by injuries.  He took advantage of the situation and made a name for himself.

Ellington gets a similar chance through a similar situation.  Hopefully, he can make a name for himself as a Laker, and be a part of the core team for the rest of the season.

Statistical breakdown via BasketballReference.com