Detroit Pistons: How Wayne Ellington is fitting in so far

The Detroit Pistons signed Wayne Ellington from the buyout market after the trade deadline, and he’s playing perfectly alongside their stars.

The Detroit Pistons went into the 2019 NBA Trade Deadline with one major goal: They wanted to get better in the short-term without sacrificing the future. After a few moves were made, they had some money on the buyout market to make that one goal come true even more, and they did so by signing the recently bought-out sharpshooter Wayne Ellington, formerly of the Miami Heat.

The Pistons needed more shooting to fit alongside All-Star Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond to provide more spacing for them to work. They had spent much of the early part of the year dealing with spacing issues because their roster wasn’t built to space the floor and chuck 3-point shots all game. The addition of Ellington has greatly helped that aspect. Since joining the team, among rotation players, he ranks fourth in 3-point percentage at 37.5 percent, on 6.7 attempts per game.

He’s also given them a steadying presence on the wing they hadn’t had for much of the year, and it was even more drastic after the trade of Reggie Bullock to the Los Angeles Lakers. Ellington has started 10 of the 12 games that he has been with the team, which allowed them to move rookie Bruce Brown Jr. to the bench to grow and mature.

The main thing that Ellington was brought in for was to give the team a 3-point shooter that could play some defense on the wings, and he’s done just that. The team shoots 6.8 more 3-point attempts than opposing teams when he’s on the floor, in the team’s most-used five-man lineup since he joined the team. The best measurement of his fit is that he’s playing his role perfectly. He’s taking 8.3 shots per game, but just 1.6 of those are coming from inside the 3-point line.

Dwane Casey’s system requires the team to have as many shooters as possible on the floor because it embraces the modern NBA movement, but it also opens up room for driving and slashers. With Griffin, Drummond and, until recently, Reggie Jackson sharing the floor for extended minutes, the team didn’t have an overwhelming amount of shooters to open room for them to work. Ellington helps solve that issue and then some.

Detroit was heading into the trade deadline prepared to lose Bullock this offseason because it wouldn’t have the money to keep him. After trading him away to get some value back, the Pistons needed a player to fill that role, or their offense and spacing would take a major hit. That’s the role Ellington is filling so well. He’s fitting in because he’s doing what a role player is supposed to do, and he’s not doing anything outside of that role.

The Pistons have been booming as of late, and, while the budding play of their stars is a major key, role players like Ellington stepping up helps as well. Detroit is fighting for the 6-seed in the Eastern Conference standings right now as it heads towards the playoffs. If it’s going to get that far, Ellington is going to need to continue to play at this level or even elevate his play to make sure that happens.