PackageDangerous1954

2237 | 14 hours ago

He’d rather shoot at 3s off the court

Black-----Manta | Timberwolves

306 | 13 hours ago

Moriah is at least a 3 and a half cmon now

rektm8s

107 | 12 hours ago

Tree fiddy.

DrewDan96

54 | 9 hours ago

come to think of it, she do kinda resemble an eight-story-tall crustacean from the Paleolithic era

Capital_Past69

7 | 7 hours ago

us normal height guys would have to climb her like a ladder

PressureMiserable | Spurs

23 | 10 hours ago

There’s probably 3 and a half small creatures that could fit in that bbl

BillyButcherX

19 | 9 hours ago

Im sure there’s a target public for her, but for the rest she’s a 2. At best

SipPOP | Warriors Bandwagon

0 | 8 hours ago

I think dude meants lbs.

BillyButcherX

1 | 8 hours ago

Ah, r/whooosh

SipPOP | Warriors Bandwagon

-7 | 7 hours ago

what was your joke though?

itgoesdownandup

1 | an hour ago

Think he was saying r/whoosh about himself or maybe you. Since I don’t think pounds work here.

SipPOP | Warriors Bandwagon

2 | an hour ago

Awe shit, r/woosh myself.

itgoesdownandup

1 | an hour ago

All good mate. Happens to the best of us.

thenicezen | Bucks

12 | 9 hours ago

Nah at least a 4 with the patented tornado trick

Misdirected_Colors | Thunder

2 | 4 hours ago

Wild this dude was supposed to be the next Lebron and then he just got fat and hurt and has been mid.

Appropriate-Mud-6985 | Hornets

1237 | 14 hours ago

Pelicans very smartly paired him with an inside small ball center with 0 shooting ability

domingodlf

251 | 9 hours ago

You’d think that would force him to shoot more though.

BobbywiththeJuice

102 | 7 hours ago

You thought. Don’t thought. That’s what you get for thoughting.

Mediocre-County-7648

6 | 6 hours ago

I mean, he prolly does what the gameplan is… If the coach doesn’t plan to have him shoot, that’s not hi main go-to weapon

TheDaeBu | Pistons

14 | 6 hours ago

Small ball center with zero shooting ability is an oxymoron.

Appropriate-Mud-6985 | Hornets

51 | 6 hours ago

No it’s a Derik Queen

browndude10 | United States

3 | 5 hours ago

don’t forget giving away an unprotected FRP

dlvial | Pelicans

1 | 38 minutes ago

Yeah but Favors basically never played.

ApartmentInside7891 | Lakers

643 | 14 hours ago

I’ll never forget that game lol he went off randomly late in the game 🤣 hit like 3 of those back to back to back

Zion was so damn fun to watch. I knew it was too good to be true

christophercolumbus

151 | 8 hours ago

His PER is 23.6 is top 15. HIS BPM is +8.6, top 5. In fact, across every advance stat he is at near mvp candidate level, or at least top 15 player on low volume.

He played 28.5 minutes a game this season. If he can get that up to 34 minutes and maintain his per minute current stats, he’s all NBA. The real problem. I think .is New Orleans. I love the pelicans but the team is a mess. They have a ton of players other teams want, at least 3 with legit 25ppg potential, but the line up makes no sense

noqms | Mavericks

58 | 7 hours ago

Even with all the fit and chemistry issues it just feels like they have too much individual talent to be this bad

mr_seggs | Jordan

44 | 7 hours ago

“If he can get that up to 34 minutes” is the big issue here though. Seems clear at this point that Zion’s peak will be as a hyper-efficient player who’s only in there for about half the game, and I think teams would be much better off using him that way (which is still really valuable) than bullshitting themselves that he can get suddenly get the condition to handle a full workload.

Lucky13200 | Celtics

15 | 6 hours ago

He is so hard to use as part time player though. You have to build your whole lineup around him. He cant play the five and is not a shooter.

IcyCantaloupe6374 | Spurs

2 | 3 hours ago

Tbf if he left and ended up in like Charlotte it could be insane because the fit would be automatic

Veserius | NBA

11 | 6 hours ago

In fact, across every advance stat he is at near mvp candidate level, or at least top 15 player on low volume.

Impact metrics like him a lot less, and they correlate to actual wins a lot more.

PaKyuBai

2 | 5 hours ago

Then you add in a very cheap Owner and Joe freaking Dumars running the franchise….

UpvoteIfYouAgreee | BOS

143 | 11 hours ago

made me think he had the mandate of heaven

pokemonbatman23

43 | 12 hours ago

Same. That game was unbelievable. I remember the coach wanting to sub him out so CJ kept feeding him the ball and it somehow kept going in from 3

Wonderfully_Tactile

61 | 12 hours ago

CJ wasn’t on the team during that time

pokemonbatman23

252 | 10 hours ago

Not McCollum. Im talking about CLonzo JBall. Not a lot of people know, the C and J are silent.

UsernameJenkins

64 | 9 hours ago

That’s quietly one of the funniest things I’ve read this week.

browndude10 | United States

-1 | 5 hours ago

is it though?

samurairocketshark | Suns

2 | 4 hours ago

Yes, because the C and J are silent

ApartmentInside7891 | Lakers

28 | 9 hours ago

JJ Redick was also on that team 🤣

wittyrandomusername | Pistons

26 | 8 hours ago

See? J.

Rathskellarington

2 | 11 hours ago

Stop being delusional

RioJones

-5 | 10 hours ago

Kept going in from 3? He made 4. Just 4.

anesthesiologist2 | East

16 | 8 hours ago

That 4 felt like 8 in the moment.

[deleted]

-3 | 7 hours ago

[deleted]

-KFBR392 | Raptors

2 | 5 hours ago

If he was healthy he’d be top 5 offensive player in the league

Prudent-Air1922 | Pacers

2 | 5 hours ago

lol

ururururu | Bulls

2 | 5 hours ago

its cause in college he was a brick house athletic player. but he doesn’t have lebron’s durability or work ethic.

Prudent-Air1922 | Pacers

1 | 5 hours ago

Yep. Raw athleticism goes way further in college.

That got my thinking, image even 2 years of LeBron in college lol.

vonnegutcheck

1 | 4 hours ago

Not just athleticism, he also has some of the best touch around the rim of any frontcourt player.

If you’ve got a quick first step, a lot of bounce and a soft touch around the rim, you’re going to be a very efficient scorer. He’s also a pretty good passer for his size. The total package is a very good offensive player, even without the ability to shoot from deep.

GneissFrog | Vancouver Grizzlies

387 | 13 hours ago

He spoke directly on this exact topic recently.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1remhxo/zion_williamson_on_his_3point_shooting_my/

PrimeTimeInc | Hornets

356 | 8 hours ago

So many terrible answers in this thread when my man literally answered already this question for us. To expand even further, in his mind a 3 is a bad shot because he can get to his spots against anybody in the league for a high efficiency shot. Imagine being able to bully every defender in the league but deciding to settle for a 3. That’s what’s going through his head.

Swarthykins | Celtics

147 | 6 hours ago

Well, if my math is correct (and math is not my forte, so it might not be), then he’s probably correct. He shot 60% from 2 this season. The equivalent of that from 3 is 40%. The likelihood that he’s going to get to 40% on 3s is quite low.

The last two seasons, he shot about 57% from 2, which would be the equivalent of 38% from 3. More possible, but still unlikely.

Edit: It also leads to more free throws, which are the most efficient shots in the game next to an open layup.

illzkla | 76ers

36 | 5 hours ago

I think the way it gets mixed up is that when you diversify your shot you get more open for the other ones. He/you are still probably right tho

Dreamlifehunting | Pelicans

17 | 5 hours ago

That’s true for most players, but I think the math still doesn’t work for Zion. If they don’t guard his three in the slightest, leaving him wide ass open, he still would need to shoot a higher point per shot average than his contested 2 point shots, which I just don’t think is feasible for him. Especially if you include the likelihood of him getting fouled when driving to the rim.

Now the one thing he has been teasing with, but doesn’t do enough imo, is use his downhill threat to pull up for short middys against backing up defenders. He probably can get the efficiency high enough, and he has shown some touch on those shots. More often than not, he just goes all the way to the rim though.

AzureDragon013 | Lakers

6 | 4 hours ago

To add on, Zion’s career FT% is 70% which isn’t giving me much hope that he would be able to knock down 3’s at a decent rate even if he worked on them.

Though maybe for his own sake, Zion should start working on his shooting even if it’s not going to help him be a superstar. With his injury history, shooting might help alleviate the wear and tear on his body. And eventually when his athleticism fades, he can still have a nice career like Blake Griffin did.

Dreamlifehunting | Pelicans

6 | 4 hours ago

You would think those are things he can practice when he’s hurt again and can’t run and jump 🙄. (tbf shooting includes jumping, but there are definitely ways to practice while limited)

Swarthykins | Celtics

2 | 4 hours ago

I think the last part is the strongest argument for it. Career longevity and just taking some pressure off his body.

IcyCantaloupe6374 | Spurs

1 | 3 hours ago

I actually think he could shoot 40% or better if they leave him open for actual practice shots. A lot of NBA players can hit that number that don’t even shoot 3s and its because they’re just not a shooter in game when someone is guarding them but are actual fucking snipers when nothing is stopping them. I think I’d like to see him take 3s if they try to treat him like he’s Westbrook or something but otherwise stick to what he’s doing. He just needs to have that credible threat in the pocket so someone actually does come out to guard him. You can’t be too one dimensional otherwise they’ll just start building a wall on you or whatever especially if you end up in rotations without good spacing and he also needs to figure out how to play longer minutes and I think some possessions not battling around the rim would go a long way

Swarthykins | Celtics

4 | 3 hours ago

This has always been the Giannis argument, and he shot below 30% for most of his career from 3. Maybe it’s worth it for 1-2 3s per game anyways, just for the spacing, maybe not. No one really knows what he would shoot if he were taking a couple per game, because no one has seen him try.

There’s obviously some nuance, just saying that it’s a pretty reasonable strategy from him.

IcyCantaloupe6374 | Spurs

3 | 3 hours ago

Yeah the thing is he doesn’t actually even have to take the shots almost ever much like Giannis he just needs to actually draw some attention

EdgeDowntown6196 | Celtics

1 | an hour ago

> If they don’t guard his three in the slightest, leaving him wide ass open, he still would need to shoot a higher point per shot average than his contested 2 point shots, which I just don’t think is feasible for him.

Unless he’s totally incapable of developing a 3 point shot, it’s feasible. Remember an X% 3 point shooter includes contested threes, a 40% 3-pt shooter would be much higher if defenses never guard the 3. Steph Curry’s at 42% from 3 but leave him wide open every time and he’s hitting, idk, 80+%?

Fun_Neighborhood1767

1 | 22 minutes ago

Unless he shot 38%+ from 3 it wouldn’t even matter. He’s such dominant athlete that most teams will let him take that shot over making it easier for that train to drive to the rim.

Zion is probably the best example of any player in the league today of a star who could hit an insane level if paired with dynamic pg that can shoot/pass.

MirrorComputingRulez

2 | 4 hours ago

You’re right, but this is only something you need to worry about if you can’t already get good looks inside without it. In his case, shooting more threes is unlikely to result in better inside efficiency.

illzkla | 76ers

1 | 3 hours ago

Pump fakes are killer when they work

Swarthykins | Celtics

1 | 5 hours ago

Yeah, there’s some nuance around the margins. In this case, I think the numbers are so overwhelming that he’s probably right to just not take them.

When you lower the numbers, it probably gets more dicey. Say he shot 55% from 2, which is 36% from 3. Even if he got to 33%-34%, you can start to argue it’s better for floor spacing, etc… I just think where he’s at now he’s on the money.

TreesLikeGodsFingers | Bulls

3 | 5 hours ago

Good maths

Laggo | TOR

1 | 4 hours ago

Reminder that Ben Simmons shot 58% on twos before the back injury when he was getting rolled over for not shooting

Soft_Hotel_5627 | Timberwolves

5 | 4 hours ago

Also next to prime Lebron and Giannis, there aren’t too many more scary things than Zion with a full head of steam. When teams lay off him it just gives him all the momentum he needs getting to the bucket. He has insane touch around the rim.

Bendrake | Suns

1 | 3 hours ago

Wish Ayton had this mindset but with fadeaway jumpers from 10 ft.

medoy

1 | an hour ago

Even if you’re the best fastball pitcher in the world, you gotta through a curve now and then.

pixelcowboy

-9 | 6 hours ago

Last I checked he isn’t anywhere near leading the league in scoring, so that logic is obviously flawed. Also, shooting 3s would open up even more scoring opportunities in the paint, and reduce the possibility of injury from contact.

PrimeTimeInc | Hornets

9 | 6 hours ago

He isn’t what now? Speaking of garbage ass logic

pixelcowboy

-8 | 6 hours ago

He is 25th in scoring. If he shot 3s he could be much higher up.

Swarthykins | Celtics

7 | 6 hours ago

If he shot 30 more 2s per game, he would also be much higher up. But, under normal circumstances, where he was substituting 2s for 3s, as my math above showed, the likelihood is he would score less, because he would be less efficient.

MostlyMellow123 | Kings

-13 | 7 hours ago

Hes unwilling to develop even though his team sucked this year lol

Prudent-Air1922 | Pacers

-25 | 7 hours ago

“Afraid to waste a possession” - this guy must be one of the dumbest people in the NBA. Even the best 3pt shooters miss over half, and it’s not like he doesn’t miss shots inside the arc. His teammates and coaches have to be frustrated.

Swarthykins | Celtics

9 | 6 hours ago

The waste of a possession is shooting an inefficient shot. Here’s the math. If you shoot 50% from 2 (which is good for most players except centers), then you only need to shoot 33% from 3 to have equivalent efficiency. That’s why the math works out for most players to either shoot 3s or shots in the restricted area.

Zion shot 60% from 2 this year. He would have to shoot 40% from 3 to have an equivalent efficiency, which is highly unlikely.

Yes, there are a lot of subtle nuances about how this impacts how he’s being guarded, floor spacing, etc… but the math is in Zion’s favor on this one.

Prudent-Air1922 | Pacers

-2 | 5 hours ago

It’s not as simple as just doing some math in shooting percentages lol. This sub is wild.

Those “subtle nuances” make a huge impact on the rest of the team, not just Zion.

Swarthykins | Celtics

2 | 5 hours ago

Yes, there are subtleties, but given the massive discrepancy in the math, they’re unlikely to overwhelm the math.

Prudent-Air1922 | Pacers

-3 | 4 hours ago

The “math” is just his shooting percentages, and doesn’t show the full picture of how that affects the team’s offense. If math was the deciding factor, then building a team would be a simple equation.

Swarthykins | Celtics

3 | 4 hours ago

Math is definitely a part of how you build a team. It’s why every team has an advanced analytics department now. It’s not the entirety of the picture, but neither is the other stuff. You seem to be having trouble grasping this.

Prudent-Air1922 | Pacers

-1 | 4 hours ago

No, it just doesn’t make sense to think having less of a bag is somehow better. Having the ability to shoot the three could also improve other parts of his game. You’re simple minded and have no idea what you’re saying.

Swarthykins | Celtics

3 | 4 hours ago

Dunning-Kruger never fails…

Prudent-Air1922 | Pacers

0 | 4 hours ago

Says the genius who did a middle school math problem to “prove” an NBA player shouldn’t be good at shooting 3s haha. Can’t make this up.

BruinBound22 | Kings

1 | 25 minutes ago

Yes everyone is dumb but you, Mr. Its Not About Math

SerDire | Hawks

350 | 10 hours ago

This is like that Cam Newton stat. He threw for 400 yards in each of his first 2 starts. The only player to ever do that. He never threw for 400 yards again for the remainder of his nfl career.

Dutchmaster617

73 | 7 hours ago

He almost did in that Seahawks game with the Pats. 397 yards.

TimothyN | Pelicans

291 | 14 hours ago

He just doesn’t want to shoot them. He’s in year 7 now and has only played in 50% of possible games, if that.

likezeggz | NBA

281 | 13 hours ago

HES IN YEAR 7? Wtf I remember his shoe exploding like last year, that was like 7 years ago

SeaMoney4312 | Rockets

137 | 13 hours ago

He’s also only 25. Seems like he’ll have a Porzingis type career though

GorillaX | Thunder

40 | 12 hours ago

I’m still a believer

gedbybee | Spurs

24 | 12 hours ago

Do you still believe in Santa?

skidam_pdf_knjige

26 | 11 hours ago

Aldama is so good

Hecticbrah | BKN

10 | 12 hours ago

Same bro, same..

Glass-Situation4099 | Celtics

22 | 10 hours ago

He’s gonna win a title with the Celtics? Excellent.

igby1

13 | 8 hours ago

COVID warped our collective perception of time

Tricky_Tart_8217

-22 | 8 hours ago

Bro….if his shoe exploding feels like last year, that is really bad for you. You probably haven’t done anything novel or exciting in the last 8 years, and now time has just blended together for you. Go do something memorable instead of scrolling reddit

EDIT: If you’re going to downvote me, tell me why I’m wrong at least 😂

Jdawg_mck1996

18 | 13 hours ago

If he’s played 50% of possible games I’d be absolutely shocked

DefenderCone97 | Nuggets

3 | 6 hours ago

He’s played 276 across 7 seasons so a bit under 50%. Just about 48%

KL2ConspireLLC | San Diego Clippers

225 | 14 hours ago

Coaches probably told him not to shoot them anymore.

He averaged 2.2 3pa in his one year at Duke and 4.3 3pa during March Madness.

He’s averaging just 0.4 3pa in the NBA. Not taking 3s in the NBA seems to be intentional.

gedbybee | Spurs

-23 | 12 hours ago

He’s had so much time off he could have worked on them if he cared about playing basketball. The pelicans have been consistently bad. No reason not to try and get better while playing games.

Edit: below someone linked: he says it’s mental (which makes a lot of sense). He’s just bad lol.

analyzingnothing | Nuggets

79 | 14 hours ago

Because frankly, there are better ways for a player of his skillset to exploit a defender who’s trying to sink off of him. Mainly, by cutting.

Off the bat, 70% from the free throw line is non-shooter levels of bad. Jarrett Allen shoots 70% from the line. Even if he was to practice, Zion is probably never getting to the point where he’s a solid enough shooter to demand attention.

As a result, he started cutting into gaps when players started sagging off, and as it turns out, this is really, REALLY good for his playstyle. Zion is unique in that he’s both exceptionally athletic and extremely heavy, so once he’s in the air you’re not going to have much luck slowing him down. Giving him a runway if there isn’t an All-Defense level rim protector in the paint is a very bad idea. Because of this, teams aren’t quite so willing to sag off as far as they otherwise would, and if they do, he will happily take the free points.

optimal-resuming

28 | 13 hours ago

Yeah he shoots 32% from 3 on low volume. If he pushed the volume his percentage would be worse. Maybe he could be a good shooter if he put in the time to practice but we’ll never know.

Wrong-Vermicelli4723

16 | 13 hours ago

What happened is that was a anomaly and not the norm

Imaginary-Cycle-1977 | Spurs

12 | 13 hours ago

Do you actually remember that game?

He was a deer in the headlights and sucked ass for most of the game and didn’t really know what to do and then he randomly hit a bunch of threes. From then on he went back to the actual player he is and just got to the rim again and again and again

It’s a little weird he’s never matched that considering how ubiquitous threes are, but 3s are not his game

phlipout22

11 | 14 hours ago

Time ate away at his game.

That and a fluke “hot” “streak”

Green-Discussion74

10 | 14 hours ago

zion ship has sailed man, we still doing this

signupsthrowaways

4 | 7 hours ago

He has admitted in multiple interviews that it’s mental. He always wants to get what he thinks is the best shot, which is a layup. He refuses to understand that sometimes the best shot for the team is a pullup 12 footer from him specifically. He also has not expanded his game in 7 years in any other way.

TheeMarsVolta

4 | 13 hours ago

Mountain Dew

mucho-gusto | CLE

3 | 13 hours ago

Michael Carter Williams pretty sure his best game was his first game

Spare-Shake-2999 | Hornets

5 | 11 hours ago

Zions best game was definitely not his first game

mucho-gusto | CLE

1 | 5 hours ago

that’s not what I said, just pointed out a guy who also got career highs in g1

utopianow8 | Lakers

3 | 12 hours ago

Plain and simple his shot looks awful. He could probably be a 30% 3pt shooter at his best but the form looks bad so coaches probably tell him not to.

_Indeed_I_Am_

2 | 5 hours ago

Not saying you’re wrong, but how it “looks” doesn’t seem to matter that much in the NBA, what matters is consistency and the ability to make them.

His shot in no way looks more weird/busted than some other players, but he can’t make them so his coaches don’t make it a focal point. If he changed his form to be picture perfect and still couldn’t make them, he still wouldn’t take them lol.

VLHACS | Celtics

2 | 7 hours ago

He realized even in the NBA nobody could stop him in the paint

Yesthisisdog69

2 | 6 hours ago

OF models and fast food. That is what happened

LodgeKeyser

2 | 6 hours ago

Are we really surprised Zion hasn’t hit more 3’s in a game? I don’t ever remember that really being part of his game.

Major_Enthusiasm1099 | Cavaliers

2 | 4 hours ago

He’s near unguardable at the rim and unstoppable on a fast break so why would he settle for a 3?

voldemort_x

2 | 3 hours ago

Pizza. Lots of pizza.

ObiOneKenobae | Knicks

2 | 2 hours ago

To my recollection, he wasn’t healthy so taking threes was kind of all he could do. Then they basically never had him shoot a three again. Which isn’t unreasonable when his paint scoring is a cheat code.

thejontorrweno | Hawks

2 | 39 minutes ago

Glad I drove down on a whim for that game. Probably the most electric couple minutes I’ll ever experience at an NBA game.

actually-potato | Pistons

1 | 13 hours ago

he stopped shooting 3s

RepresentativeAd1965 | Nuggets

1 | 11 hours ago

He’s not very good

Efficient_Raise7695

1 | 9 hours ago

Probably what’s happened is he didn’t shot more than 2 threes

fadeawaydunker

1 | 9 hours ago

He was never a shooter. 4 threes is high and it was just a fluke on the first game. Nothing unusual ever since.

Sea_Recover3486

1 | 8 hours ago

Sounds like he hit 2 more than threes than he did when he hit 2 threes in a game. I could be missing something though

12clrush | Cavaliers

1 | 7 hours ago

What happened is that he go hot one game. It was a hell of a first impression but the track record since then is the real player. First game was just an outlier.

SocksAndSandlesGuy

1 | 7 hours ago

L

elseworthtoohey

1 | 7 hours ago

A lack of self control concerning food and sex coupled with an organization that rewarded multiple failures and missteps.

addictivesign

1 | 7 hours ago

What are the chances Zion finds a fit on a new team like Aaron Gordon has done going from the Magic to the Nuggets?

Nervous-Story-7117 | Lakers

1 | 6 hours ago

Am I the only one who is pretty confident that he’s going to end up taking Bron’s spot in LA? Gets his health together. He and Luka and Reaves win 3 or 4 titles together.

lolimdivine | ATL

1 | 6 hours ago

adrenaline lol

WoodpeckerNo5724

1 | 5 hours ago

Man I really thought he was gonna be the next LeBron

CurrentRoster

1 | 5 hours ago

i assumed even at the time he wasn’t gonna just start adding 3s to his repertoire, seemed like he just wanted to give the fans a big welcome after he was out for so long

Ozymandias_1303 | Knicks

1 | 3 hours ago

We need to investigate the possibility that Zion literally wished for his career on a monkey’s paw.

nomadrone | Bulls

0 | 9 hours ago

He can’t shoot,

dinglebarryb0nds

-1 | 12 hours ago

He’s like Tim tebow built for college. I loved watching him but in hindsight how many Barkley size guys exist anymore

whousesgmail

9 | 9 hours ago

He still averages 21 points on 60% shooting, saying he’s built for college is kind of an insult.

And that’s with questionable work ethic and a poorly constructed team around him.

dinglebarryb0nds

-3 | 8 hours ago

Yes everything kinda went wrong. I thought he would be a top tier pro

I guess that’s the way she goes

Zion hit 4 threes in his first game in the NBA. His game-high since is 2 threes. What happened?