The Brooklyn Nets have had an uncharacteristically quiet offseason so far. Although they have been in trade talks involving Joe Johnson going to the Cleveland Cavaliers, those fell through and they have kept a relatively low profile. The big moves the Nets have made so far have been retaining both Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez right at the beginning of free agency. However, it was reported Thursday morning that the Nets came to a deal with shooting guard Wayne Ellington according to Mike Mazzeo.
Ellington's deal with the Netsis reportedly for one year and $1.5 million, according to SB Nation. The Nets used the remaining money in their mid-level exception to get the deal done.
This deal comes at a very opportune time for the Nets, as they had just lost their backup shooting guard Alan Anderson in free agency to the Washington Wizards. Ellington will likely play the same role for the Nets that Anderson has in the past few seasons, and while he is not as good defensively, he is younger (27) and shoots threes better.
Ellington is entering his seventh season in the NBA, and the Nets will be the sixth team he's played for in his career. The former Tar Heel is coming off of his best season in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers, in which he averaged ten points per game. While the Lakers weren't a very good team, Ellington has shown he can score as a spot-up shooter in the league. Ellington is a 38 percent three point shooter, and as every NBA fan knows, you can never have too many guys on your roster that can consistently knock down threes.
The Nets roster is currently close to being full, but there are moves that could still be made. If the roster stays the way it is, the Nets would have to pay the luxury tax, and they reportedly don't want to do that this season. The Nets are looking to avoid the luxury tax by trying to trade either Deron Williams, Joe Johnson or both.
Snagging Ellington to replace Anderson for cheap was a very solid move by the Nets, and they have had a quiet, but effective, offseason thus far. However, fans should expect there to be much more noise in the near future about them possibly moving one of their big contracts.
