NBA Trade Deadline 2020: 5 buried veterans who could help a contender

5. Wayne Ellington

We probably could’ve filled this entire slideshow with the poor, buried vets on the New York Knicks, but we tried to restrict that impulse as much as possible, limiting it to guys who are hardly playing (sorry, Marcus Morris). However, when you’re a career 37.7 3-point shooter who’s only averaging 14.3 minutes per game for an 11-30 Knicks team like Wayne Ellington, you fit the bill pretty perfectly.

In such a low amount of minutes, Ellington’s 4.0 points per game on 30.9 percent shooting from deep are a little more defensible. When established veterans are wasting away on bottom-feeders, their production is bound to reflect that in whatever limited action they receive.

That seems to be the case with the 32-year-old Ellington, who just shot 36.8 percent from downtown on a whopping 6.2 attempts per game last season with the Miami Heat. Get him to a contender with a suitable role, and there’s a very good chance he can still make an impact as a microwave scorer and sharpshooter off the bench.

His $8 million salary shouldn’t be too hard to move, and his $8 million salary for next season is non-guaranteed, so there’d be very little baggage if the fit with his new team didn’t work out. Teams looking for a little extra boost off the bench should definitely inquire about Ellington.