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Summary
Ellington's one NBA skill is outside shooting, as the overwhelming majority of his field goal attempts come from beyond the three point line. Ellington can not only hit spot up threes, he's great off the catch and needs little room to get his shot off. He shot 42% from three this season on high volume, and I'm surprised that the Pistons were not able to get a 2nd round pick for him at the trade deadline. However, Ellington is fairly one-dimensional. If he is not hitting shots, he's not contributing in other ways to compensate.

I have always had a higher opinion of Ellington than the league does, and that was clearly evidenced when Ellington settled for a one-year minimum contact with Detroit last offseason. I stated last year that I wanted to see Ellington on a more competitive team, and I hope that comes to fruition. I would give Ellington more than the minimum, but I'm not sure others would, even after that success he had this season.
 
Cap Considerations
Ellington will be an unrestricted free agent with a $1.7 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. This means that the highest starting salary the Pistons could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is $3.2 million. This should be enough to retain Ellington, since he settled for the minimum of $2.6 million to come to Detroit. Alternatively, the Pistons could use their Mid-Level Exception or Bi-Annual Exception to re-sign Ellington if he demands more than $3.2 million.

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Ellington as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or possibly even the Room MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. There's also a chance that Ellington could be had for the minimum again.

Potential Teams: Warriors, Celtics, 76ers, Clippers, Timberwolves

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $2.6 million ($1.7 million cap hit) with the Warriors

Actual Contract: 1-year, $2.6 million ($1.7 million cap hit) with the Lakers

I picked the wrong California contender, but I was accurate in thinking that Ellington would once again have to settle for a minimum contract.

Last updated: 8/17/2021

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