Wayne Ellington is one of about 20 players this year (including all those scrubs who played like 20 minutes in garbage time) attempting at least 10 threes per 36 minutes. That seems like a whole ton of threes, and it is. Just a few years ago, he’d be number one in that category, but nowadays everyone and their mother is going out there and launching from deep every single time they get the chance. I’m exaggerating, but it’s accurate in the case of Naz Mitrou-Long, with his 1 three on 1 attempt in the 1 minute that made up his entire NBA career.
But when you can shoot over 40 percent on threes like Ellington, why would you ever NOT shoot? It’s in the best interests of his team to shoot when he gets the chance. And since he’s running off a tons of screens and in general working hard to get open, he deserves the green light.
If LeBron was still on the Heat and Ellington was doing stuff like this, we’d never hear the end of it about him. He’s be the Klay Thompson counterpart whose shooting could take down the Warriors. But LeBron’s long gone, the Heat are doing pretty good but no one cares, and Ellington gets to be one of the best three-point shooters in a three-pointer-obsessed league in anonymity.