Long range shooters with subpar ratios

Eric Gordon of the Houston Rockets is averaging the fifth most three point attempts per game in the NBA: 8.3 3PA, more than Klay Thompson and more than J.J. Redick. Gordon’s three point percentage is 28.8%. That’s, um...suboptimal, especially for a team that focuses on long range shots (41.3 3PA per game for the Rockets as a team, #1 in the NBA; they have the 24th worst 3PT%, however, just behind the Chicago Bulls).

Gordon is currently a Void Rider in fantasy: his value is barely on the positive side of zero. His 0.04 PR in ESPN Basic is right before the Void Rider himself, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at 0.00. Gordon’s averaging 15 points per game and 2.4 three pointers made, and he’s barely rosterable. Out of every player in the NBA who averages at least 15 PPG and 2 3PM, Gordon’s got the worst field goal percentage (37 FG%).

Right now, Gordon’s in the 30-20 Club in fantasy basketball, which ain’t a good thing. His field goal percentage is in the 30s and his three point percentage is in the 20s. Those are serious problems in fantasy because those ratios are bruuuuuuu-TAL. It’s tough to discount players who get a high volume of shots because, hello, they’re the ones who can generally score you the most points. But, there are 25 players in fantasy right now who aren’t exactly maximizing the potential of their high amount of shot attempts, and Gordon’s #1 with a (missed) bullet.

Here are the 25 players who are attempting at least 4.5 threes per game but have a 3PT% beneath 34%. These players may be hurt, or their teams may not be getting them great spacing for their shots, or they may just be suffering seasonal attitude depression (who isn’t). Some of them, like Kyle Lowry, may be buy-low opportunities if their fantasy owners are panicking due to their subpar ratios, while others may just be stinking.

(All stats courtesy of ESPN.com, NBA.com, Basketball-Reference.com, as of 12/16/18. Thank you to those wonderful sites!)

• Eric Gordon (30-20 club)- 5th overall in 3PA per game at 8.3, with a 28.8 3PT%, and a 37 FG% overall. ESPN Basic player rating of 0.04 on the season. Last 10 games: 32.9 3PT%, 42.5 FG%. A member of the un-illustrious 30-20 Club, but maybe turning it around?
• Devin Booker - 12th overall (7.5 3PA), 32 3PT%, 44.6 FG%, ESPN PR 4.99 (top 100). Last 10 games: 28.6 3PT% (hmmm), 48.9 FG%.
• Donovan Mitchell - 23rd overall (6.5 3PA), 30.6 3PT%, 42.6 FG%, ESPN PR 5.71 (top 100). Last 10 games: 33.3 3PT%, 44 FG%.
• Kyle Lowry - 24th overall (6.5 3PA), 33 3PT%, 43.6 FG%, ESPN PR 10.74 (top 50). Last 10 games: 23.4 3PT% (uh oh), 34.2 FG% (uh oh!). He’s been hurt, but still: no bueno.
• Victor Oladipo - 25th overall (6.4 3PA), 33.6 3PT%, 43.4 FG%, ESPN PR 3.84 (top 150 but he’s been out hurt, and he’s been great since coming back). Last 10 games: 42.9 3PT% (see?), 42.5 FG%.
• Evan Fournier - 27th overall (6.3 3PA), 30.9 3PT%, 42 FG%, ESPN PR 3.35 (top 150). Last 10 games: 34.7 3PT%, 40.4 FG%.
• Mike Conley - 32nd overall (6.1 3PA), 33.9 3PT%, 41.9 FG%, ESPN PR 9.02 (top 50). Last 10 games: 32.1 3PT%, 42.4 FG%.
• Reggie Jackson (30-30 club) - 33rd overall (6 3PA), 33.1 3PT%, 39.7 FG%, ESPN PR 3.60 (top 150). Last 10 games: 40 3PT%, 43.9 FG%. RJax may be pulling out of his slump, which would be great news for Pistons fans. Blake Griffin’s been holding Detroit together, but the team won’t find much success if their point guard can’t hit shots.
• Jae Crowder - 34th overall (6 3PA), 32.6 3PT%, 40.6 FG%, ESPN PR 2.59 (top 150). Last 10 games: 43.1 3PT%, 43.2 FG%. Hmmm...has the arrival of Kyle Korver helped Crowder more than anyone?
• Kyle Kuzma - 42nd overall (5.6 3PA), 31.9 3PT%, 48.1 FG%, ESPN PR 6.49 (top 100). Last 10 games: 33.8 3PT%, 50.3 FG%. Kuzma’s improving, but that may coincide with Brandon Ingram being out with an injury. Regardless, a 50+ FG% is a most welcome sight for any player.
• Trae Young (30-20 club) - 47th overall (5.4 3PA), 24.1 3PT%, 37.8 FG%, ESPN PR 3.61 (top 150). Last 10 games: 26.9 3PT%, 36.2 FG%. Say what you want about rookies having a difficult transition to the pros, but a sub-30 3PT% is just bad, especially on volume. Young’s also shooting below 80% from the free throw line. This is the new Steph Curry?
• Gary Harris - 51st overall (5.3 3PA), 32.4 3PT%, 43.9 FG%, ESPN PR 1.96 (top 150, barely). Last 10 games: 33.3 3PT%, 41.7 FG%. He’s been hurt, but this is still disappointing. He’ll probably improve as the season goes along, since he’s had a 39.6 and 42 3PT% over the past two seasons, respectively. Don’t give up!
• Malik Monk (30-30 club) - 53rd overall (5.1 3PA), 33.3 3PT%, 38.3 FG%, ESPN PR 0.73 (yeeesh). Last 10 games: 33.3 3PT%, 40.8 FG%. Jesus, this guy was supposed to be one of, if not the, best shooters in his draft class. Charlotte basically wasted his entire freshman season. What the hell is going on here?
• Zach LaVine, the Dentist - 54th overall (5.1 3PA), 32.6 3PT%, 45 FG%, ESPN PR 9.60 (top 50). Last 10 games: 41.7 3PT%, 48.3 FG%. Has the return of the Finnisher helped LaVine more than we thought it would? Dunn, LaVine, Holiday, Markkanen, and Wendell Porter, Jr.: starting five you can build around? Or, fool’s gold?
• Sergeant Russell Westbrook (40-20 club) - 58th overall (5.1 3PA), 24.8 3PT% (PLEASE stop shooting threes! PLEASE!), 43.5 FG% (this should be MUCH higher), ESPN PR 4.81 (top 100, will be top 50 by the end of the year, unless more injuries occur). Last 10 games: 27.4 3PT% (on 6.2 3PA per game, GET! REAL!), 38.5 FG%. I mean, I savvy, Sarge, I savvy: your team lacks shooting, and you’re the hero. But, Mother of God, man, shooting a ton of threes and missing most of them can NOT be a recipe for long term success. (Unless you have the best defense in the NBA, I guess.)
• John Wall - 59th overall (5 3PA), 30.1 3PT%, 44.3 FG%, ESPN PR 8.85 (top 50). Last 10 games: 27.9 3PT%, 45.2 FG%. What is the point of having perimeter players who can shoot, if the point guard heaves up garbage-trash-fecal balls instead of passing to his shooters? I’m a big believer in Dr. Wall, but just like with the Sarge, the doctor needs to tone it down from long range, cuz he sucks right now.
• Jordan Clarkson - 63rd overall (4.9 3PA), 31.3 3PT%, 44.6 FG%, ESPN PR 3.80 (top 150). Last 10 games: 31 3PT%, 42.5 FG%. This dude’s the perfect Cav: hella bleh. He’s got a 75% ownership in ESPN; I would look high and low to trade him for picks or players.
• Jrue Holiday (40-20 Club) - 67th overall (4.9 3PA), 29.5 3PT% (!), 47.4 FG% (?), ESPN PR 13.07 (top 50). Last 10 games: 36.8 3PT% (therrrre we go), 49.1 FG%. If Jrue can’t hit threes (and, it seems like he gets worse the more threes he attempts; he’s never hit above 40% from long range), then this team probably won’t make the playoffs. Anthony Davis is doing everything he can; the rest of the Pelicans really need to be able to take advantage of the space he creates, and the defenders he pulls when on offense, otherwise this team will be a collection of AD and Who Cares. I know he just got a contract from Brooklyn, but Spencer Dinwiddie is better than Tim Frazier and Elfrid Payton; could the Pellies acquire him, and maybe one of the Nets perimeter players (Joe Harris, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson)?
• Cedi Osman (30-30 Club) - 71st overall (4.8 3PA), 30.8 3PT%, 36.7 FG%, ESPN PR 0.81 (who cares). Last 10 games: 25 3PT% (!), 34 FG% (!!). I was one of the people who thought that Cedi would be good. I was wrong. He’s young, but god damn, no one’s this young in the NBA. He’s averaging 20 more minutes per game this year than last season. He’s getting plenty of opportunities. So, was last year’s small sample just an illusion? Or, is this just a natural, but extremely bad, sophomore slump?
• Jamal Murray (40-20 Club) - 72nd overall (4.7 3PA), 29.5 3PT%, 42.2 FG%, ESPN PR 6.20 (top 100). Last 10 games: 28.3 3PT%, 40.6 FG%. This surprised the hell out of me, because the Nuggets have been so good this year. Is anyone talking about the MVP case for Nikola Jokic? Denver has a bottom 10 3PT% as a team; last season, they had the 7th best. Juancho Hernangomez is the only prolific 3PT shooter doing better than 40% from long range on Denver. What the hell is going on with this team? They have the second most wins in the NBA. They’re 3rd in assists per game, 8th in rebounds, and 4th in offensive rebounds. If all their shooters start to perform like they did last season, then Denver might be even better than we think. Scary thought for the non-Golden State teams in the Western Conference.
• Dario Saric - 77th overall (4.6 3PA), 32.8 3PT%, 42.3 FG%, ESPN PR 2.60 (top 150). Last 10 games: 36.8 3PT%, 52.8 FG%. Saric has benefited from his move to Minnesota in regards to his ratios, and he’s actually averaging more minutes than Ancient Taj Gibson over the past 10 games. Could he be a buy low opportunity in fantasy? His ownership is going up, and he’s averaged 12 and 6 over the past 30 days on 50% shooting.
• Kelly Oubre, Jr. (just traded to Phoenix) - 78th overall (4.6 3PA), 31.3 3PT%, 43.3 FG%, ESPN PR 3.35 (top 150). Last 10 games: 41.5 3PT%, 47.7 FG%. Uh...what? Over their last 10 games, the Wizards best perimeter shooter was Oubre. They just traded him for ANOTHER wing, which means the Wizzle-Wazzle’s logjam on the perimeter continues with Otto Porter, Jr., Trevor Ariza, and Markieff Morris. Oubre’s had an up-and-down career so far, but there’s a damn good chance that he’ll instantly be a great teammate for Devin Booker (only TJ Warren is shooting better than 40% from three, so if Oubre’s turned a corner with his long range shot, he’ll be very welcome in Phoenix). If he gets starter’s minutes and the accompanying volume of shots, his ownership might shoot up big time. He’s only 7.3% owned in ESPN, so you may want to pick him up as a speculative add, in case he’s a cheap top 100 player for the rest of the season. (Ditto, Austin Haunted Rivers: if he starts as the nominal point guard next to Devin Booker, he could reclaim some of his value from his Clippers days.)
• Mike Muscala (30-30 Club) - 79th overall (4.5 3PA), 33 3PT%, 38.9 FG%, ESPN PR 0.41 (who cares). Last 10 games: 31 3PT%, 39.3 FG%. This guy is not the answer for Philly. He’s averaging 7 and 5 the past 10 games. Philly can do better. They need a serious dude who can spell Embiid; maybe someone like Nikola Vucevic? The 76ers are 7-3 in their last 10 games, but Embiid’s averaging more minutes at Center than all but Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol. That’s playing with fire. Jesus, even someone like Robin Lopez from the Bulls would be a welcome relief. Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala just aren’t difference makers for this Philly squad; odds are that they’ll upgrade as the season goes along.
• Kent Bazemore - 80th overall (4.5 3PA), 31.3 3PT%, 44.3 FG%, ESPN PR 6.69 (top 60). Last 10 games: 30.9 3PT%, 40.7 FG%. Bazemore’s been a better shooter over the past four years than these numbers suggest. He’s also one of the only 5 players in fantasy who can get you 1 steal, 1 block, and 1 3PM per game, hence his value despite poor ratios. He’s barely owned in fantasy, so I recommend picking him up off waivers, or trying to buy low on him from another owner.
• Stanley Johnson (30-20 Club) - 85th overall (4.5 3PA), 28.2 3PT%, 39.9 FG%, ESPN PR -0.44 (Jesus!). Last 10 games: 23.5 3PT%, 39.4 FG%. The kid just ain’t working out, at least in Detroit. He needs a new home, and Blake and Drummond need some help. Anyone out there want a young, athletic wing who maybe can’t shoot?