Heat Notes: Ellington, Trade Deadline, Jones, Whiteside

For the second straight season, the Heat will face a difficult decision regarding Wayne Ellington, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Ellington, who is averaging a career-best 11.5 points per game and ranks fourth in the league in made 3-pointers, is headed toward free agency again after signing a one-year deal with the team last summer.

The Heat have 11 players already under contract for next season, with $119.1MM in committed salary, well over the $101MM cap and close to the $123MM tax threshold, so the options with Ellington are limited. They can re-sign him and accept the tax, which seems unlikely because they aren’t title contenders, they can let Ellington sign elsewhere and lose a key rotation piece or they can try to trade someone else to clear cap room like they did last summer with Josh McRoberts.

• With the trade deadline 11 days away, the Heat will only consider deals if they can obtain an All-Star level player, Jackson relays in the same story. Miami leads the Southeast Division and is fourth in the East at 28-21 and wouldn’t make a lateral move if it continues to play well. The Hornets may try to move guard Kemba Walker, but Jackson doesn’t see him as a good fit because of Goran Dragic‘s presence on the roster and Charlotte’s desire to get rid of another big contract in any Walker deal.
• The Heat face a decision soon on rookie forward Derrick Jones, who has six NBA days remaining on his two-way contract, Jackson adds. The front office has discussed converting his deal into a standard contract after the deadline and giving him the roster spot currently occupied by A.J. Hammons, who has spent the season in the G League.
• By signing Kelly Olynyk and drafting Bam Adebayo during the offseason, the Heat may have made center Hassan Whiteside expendable in a trade, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Whiteside is playing just 26 minutes per night, compared to 24 for Olynyk and 20 for Adebayo, and the Heat are showing they can be successful without him on the court. Whiteside tops the Miami payroll at nearly $23.8MM and Winderman lists a few salary matches in potential trades, including Kevin Love, Harrison Barnes, C.J. McCollum and Marc Gasol.