As we’ve discussed before, shooting is an integral part of the game of basketball. It gives you access to 3-point possessions. It gives you spacing. So, it also clears the lane to give you access to shots in the paint. Shooting makes you dangerous.
Because of the skill’s value, it is important to figure out which players excel at shooting. So, who is the best shooter in the NBA right now?
Measuring Shooting
Conventional wisdom will tell you that the best way to measure shooting is to look at a player’s 3-point shooting percentage. On the surface, that makes sense. But the problem with that line of thinking is that 3-point shooting can have a lot of variability, and it can change drastically for individual players from season to season.
Okay, why not look at multi-year 3-point data then? The larger the sample size, the better the chance that the data is accurate, right? That is true, but the issue there is that raw 3-point percentage can be largely context-dependent.
What we mean by that is not every 3-point shot is created equal. Some are wide open. Some are heavily contested. Some come in a blowout when no one on defense is really trying. Yes, 3-point percentage is an important statistic. But it by itself shouldn’t be the end-all-be-all for determining the title of best shooter.
The next thought may be to check free throw percentage. After all, no matter what your team context, all free throw shots are pretty much equal. Some may have more pressure associated with them than others. But they are all wide-open 15-foot shots.
That is sound logic. But the problem there is that not all great free throw shooters are great 3-point shooters. For instance, DeMar DeRozan is a career 84% free throw shooter but only a 29.4% 3-point shooter. Do you see where that becomes an issue?
What we need is a statistic that can balance both of those variables to help us determine a player’s shooting. That makes the Shooting Quality metric (available on the invaluable Crafted NBA website) the perfect tool. Shooting Quality looks at 3-point shooting, free throw shooting, and spacing to try and calculate who the best shooters in basketball are.
The Best Shooter Is…
Okay, so who does the Shooting Quality metric say the best shooter in the NBA is right now?
Best Shooters in the NBA this season by our Shooting Quality metric.
Klay may have dipped in most other areas, but the shooting is still legit. pic.twitter.com/kXWhRuKOiO
— craftedNBA (@craftedNBA) January 8, 2024
Shocker. The all-time leader in 3-pointers made, Stephen Curry, is the best shooter based on this metric. It looks like Klay Thompson (despite facing a ton of criticism this year) is still pretty good at putting the ball in the net from the perimeter.
A look around at the list, and you will see that the list is made up of two types of players: 1) shooting specialists (like Duncan Robinson and Grayson Allen), and 2) on-ball stars (like Curry, Kevin Durant, and Jamal Murray).
Of course, this metric isn’t an end-all-be-all. But it does give us a much better answer than just leaning on traditional 3-point percentage.
If you enjoyed this metric, be sure to follow @craftedNBA on Twitter and check out his website craftednba.com.
