A familiar face, Wayne Ellington, joining the Heat’s coaching staff

Another former Miami Heat player is joining Erik Spoelstra’s coaching staff.

With Anthony Carter leaving the Heat this summer to join the Memphis Grizzlies’ coaching staff, the Heat announced Friday that it has hired Ellington as a player development coach. Ellington’s hiring comes five years after he set a Heat record for three-pointers made in a season.

This is Ellington’s first NBA coaching experience. He last appeared in an NBA game on April 10, 2022 as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ellington, who was drafted out of North Carolina with the 28th overall pick in 2009, played for nine different teams over 13 NBA seasons.

After signing with the Heat as a free agent during the 2016 offseason, Ellington spent two full seasons with the Heat before being traded in the middle of his third season with the organization in February 2019. The Heat traded Ellington and Tyler Johnson to the Phoenix Suns for Ryan Anderson.

Ellington’s time with the Heat wasn’t long, but it was productive. Labeled the “The Man with the Golden Arm” because of his excellent three-point shooting, he shot 38.4 percent on 6.9 three-point attempts per game in 164 regular-season games (27 starts) with the Heat.

Some of the best seasons of Ellington’s career came in Miami. He hit a career-high 227 three-pointers during the 2017-18 season to set a Heat record for the most three-pointers made by a player in a single season that Duncan Robinson has since surpassed.

With the addition of Ellington, the Heat’s current coaching staff under Spoelstra includes assistant coaches Chris Quinn, Malik Allen, Caron Butler, Octavio De La Grana (also a player development coach) and Eric Glass (also a player development coach), shooting/player development coach Rob Fodor, player development coaches Dan Bisaccio, Remy Ndiaye and Ellington.

Ellington becomes the fourth member of the Heat’s coaching staff with NBA playing experience, joining Quinn, Allen and Butler. All four spent time with the Heat during their playing careers.