2019 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far
Wayne Ellington: 2 years, $16 million (New York Knicks)
Free agent Wayne Ellington has agreed to a two-year, $16M deal with the New York Knicks, agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
Again, no one’s pegging the New York Knicks as winners in free agency. In fact, this probably still isn’t even a playoff team for 2019-20. However, with solid additions like Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis, Reggie Bullock and now Wayne Ellington, the Knicks have successfully pivoted from the disappointment of missing out on all the summer’s top targets.
Watching Kyrie Irving and eventually Kevin Durant compete for the Eastern belt just 20 minutes away will be painful for Knicks fans, but this infusion of talent — all coming on two-year deals — not only makes the team better, but helps the young players out by giving them a more competitive environment to learn in.
The length of these deals preserves flexibility for the 2021 free agency class, and Ellington himself — who averaged 10.3 points per game on 37.1 percent shooting from distance last year — is another positive addition who will spread the floor and knock down open 3s. It’s not the summer Knicks fans were hoping for, but this is tremendous value for a sharpshooter of Wayne’s caliber, especially for a team that had to fill its cap space somehow.
Grade: A-