Wayne Ellington’s Contract is Not Guaranteed

Because Wayne Ellington signed a non-guaranteed deal he has to make the team. If he does his contract has partial guarantees that lock in on November 15th and December 1st. His contract is fully guaranteed if he is on the roster on January 10th. Then the NBA will reimburse the Lakers $148,000 for spending more than the allotted minimum on his one year $1,063,384 salary.

But can he play?

Feb 3, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Wayne Ellington (21) brings the ball up court during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The answer would have been yes if you asked the question on the last game of the college season in 2009. Wayne Ellington was a junior at North Carolina when the Tar Heels won the NCAA Championship by beating Michigan State by 17 points. Ellington made all his threes and was the second leading scorer behind Ty Lawson, with 19 points. That was a Tar Heel team with Ellington, Lawson, Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough as starters. Ed Davis, a freshman, came off the bench. Wayne Ellington was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He was drafted at the end of the first round in 2009.

Of all the players on the 2009 championship team who went to the NBA, Wayne Ellington is the only one with a dubious professional history: he has played for four teams, been traded four times and waived. It began in June of 2009 when he was drafted by the Timberwolves into basketball hell. Ellington played less than 20 minutes a game his first three years in Minnesota. As a rookie he subbed in for Corey Brewer and had the third most minutes off the bench but only averaged 6 points a game. The next season he played behind rookie Wesley Johnson who the Timberwolves tried (and failed miserably) to make a shooting guard. Again, Ellington had the third most minutes off the bench. He still averaged only 6 points a game. His third year he was the third shooting guard in the rotation behind Wesley Johnson and Martell Webster. Eventually, Minnesota gave up on him and traded him to Memphis.

His best night in the NBA came against the Miami Heat when Wayne Ellington of the Memphis Grizzlies had a career high 7 three pointers. He ended with 25 points. It ended there. The next five games he had 6 points, 5 points, 0 points, 0 points, 0 points. Two months later he was traded to Cleveland and was coached by Byron Scott. It was the best three months of his career, albeit on a terrible Cavs team that won 24 games. He had double figure scoring in 60% of the 38 games he played backing up Dion Waiters. Again, against Miami, he played his best. He had 20 points and 7 rebounds.

That summer he moved to his third city within a year. He signed with Dallas and played in 45 games and 2 playoff games but nothing remarkable happened.

This summer he was included in the Tyson Chandler trade that sent 3 Mavericks players and two draft picks to New York for Chandler and Ray Felton. The Knicks waited six weeks before they traded Ellington to Sacramento in another multi player trade. Then two weeks ago the Kings waived him.

It’s been a long road to get here, to Lakers training camp. This time last year Xavier Henry came to training camp having to make the team. This year it is Wayne Ellington. Ellington has an extra advantage because he played for Byron before so he knows his system and Byron knows him. The Lakers also need another guard since Xavier Henry won’t be ready at the start of training camp. So Ellington has an opportunity as a shooter off the bench, a shot maker from distance.

Ellington has said he is more mature now and five years in the league without much security will do that to you. His upside is his three point shooting and his defense. His weaknesses are his average athleticism and two point shooting. He has never gotten close to his field goal percentage at North Carolina-48%. His pro average is 41%. He doesn’t create with the ball and get to the rim or to the line. His average shot is 17 feet and 89% of his career he has played shooting guard so he’s not that versatile.

But if he can shoot and defend and execute Byron’s offense and defense flawlessly he’s in.