Will Wayne Ellington be ready for Heat’s season opener? Plus, a Jimmy Butler update

Despite missing the entire preseason with a sore left ankle, Miami Heat sharpshooter Wayne Ellington is hopeful he’ll be able to play in Wednesday’s regular-season opener against the Orlando Magic.

“I’m optimistic,” Ellington said after Sunday’s light practice. “I don’t want to give my full word. But I’m hoping so.”

Ellington has been practicing with the Heat for the past week, but he remained out for the entire six-game preseason schedule. Not because of a setback, just as a precaution.

“We want to make sure I’m fully healthy and when I get out there, I’m able to stay out there and there are no setbacks when I do get out there,” Ellington said. “It’s fully a precaution and preparing for the regular season.”

The good news for the Heat is Ellington has already passed his conditioning test, one of the team’s prerequisites for returning to game action. James Johnson, who missed the entire preseason as he continues to recover from May surgery to repair a sports hernia, has also passed his conditioning test.

But coach Erik Spoelstra said Sunday “it’s too early to tell” whether Johnson will be available for Wednesday’s opener.

“It’s feeling improved,” Johnson said last week of the pain. “Big improvement. It’s feeling stronger. But like I said, the more I run and things like that, I can feel it fatiguing faster than normal. So I’m just trying to wake up those muscles that have been sitting all offseason.”

Derrick Jones Jr. and Johnson missed Sunday’s practice because of an illness, according to the Heat.

Happy for Justise

Just one day after Justise Winslow signed his three-year, $39 million extension with the Heat, Spoelstra and teammates shared their reaction to the news.

“It’s great, especially when you spend so much time developing with a player,” Spoelstra said Sunday. “On his end and our end, you want to see it through. We’re just starting to see now some of the real improvement with Justise. He’s been able to be in our system healthy and growing as a player, but also getting accustomed to our culture and our system.”

The Heat drafted Winslow with the 10th overall pick in 2015.

With Winslow set to make $3.4 million this season in the final year of his rookie-scale contract, his new deal won’t begin until the start of the 2019-20 season. The extension runs through the 2021-22 season.

“It’s great when you see young guys, when you know the work they put in, and also you know their capabilities,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. “And Justise, for him to go through shoulder surgery and everything he went through to be down a little bit and then to come back the way he did and have a hell of a playoff, and then to be rewarded for it.

“He’s still a young kid. He has put himself in position, both sides, having a three-year deal and it gives him some comfort, some stability. He loves it here. He’s going to continue to grow, so I’m excited for him.”

Udonis Haslem said: “I’m proud of Justise. I saw a different Justise for the second half of last season, all the way through the summer and starting this season. He’s definitely earned that extension. When you talk about the culture, he’s one of the guys who embodies this culture and can carry this culture moving forward.”

Jimmy Butler update

Despite demanding a trade last month, Jimmy Butler practiced with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday and is expected to play in Wednesday’s season opener against the San Antonio Spurs.

Trade talks between the Heat and Timbervoles “have been dead, for now,” according to Shams Charania from The Athletic.

The Heat is not pushing to resume discussions with the Timberwolves on a Butler trade, as the Miami Herald reported Thursday.

A Heat source indicated Thursday the organization is ready to move on if need be after the Timberwolves rejected its offer. But the source also declined to rule out the possibility of a deal still happening with Minnesota, only making it clear Miami would not be the one initiating trade talks.

“Sure. Go ahead, boo me,” Butler said to reporters in Minnesota on Sunday when asked if he expects negative reaction from Timberwolves fans. “It ain’t going to change the way I play. That’s going to make me smile more. So please, come on with it.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2018 at 3:09 PM.