Top 10 Worst Three-Point Shooters that are Also All-Stars
- Cyrus Choi
- May 22, 2021
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 5, 2022
If you don't feel like reading, here are the top ten worst three-point shooters that also happen to be All-Stars. If you are interested in each player's strengths and weaknesses and why their three-point shooting isn't good, continue reading!
1. Victor Oladipo (23.5%)
2. Jimmy Butler (24.5%)
3. Demar Derozan (25.7%)
4. Anthony Davis (26%)
5. Draymond Green (27%)
6. Pascal Siakam (29.7%)
7. Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.3%)
8. Russell Westbrook (31.5%)
9. Domantas Sabonis (32.1%)
10. De'Aaron Fox (32.2%)
Before the 2010s, NBA teams have always been oriented around big men dominating the post. If we look at the Top 3 Centers (Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson, and Dikembe Mutombo) during the 2000-2001 NBA season, none had a three-point attempt. They were all considered some of the worst three-point shooters (and shooters in general), yet they still dominated. Throughout their careers, Robinson only made twenty-five three-pointers, Shaq only made one three-pointer, and Mutombo did not make a single three-pointer!
Since then, the game has shifted, and NBA teams are more oriented around three-point shooting, regardless of whether you're a guard, forward, or center. In the 2020-2021 NBA season, the Top 3 Centers (Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Karl Anthony-Towns) all shoot threes.
Nikola Jokic: 3.3 3PA on 38.8 3P%
Joel Embiid: 3 3PA on 37.7 3P%
Karl-Anthony Towns: 6.3 3PA on 38.7%
Even Ray Allen and Reggie Miller, two of the best three-pointer shooters in the 90s-00s, shot fewer three-pointers than Karl-Anthony Towns.
Ray Allen: 5.7 3PA
Reggie Miller: 4.7 3PA
The Top 13 Leaders in 3PA per season are from the past two/three seasons (James Harden, Stephen Curry, Paul George, Kemba Walker, Buddy Hield, Damian Lillard).
This shift in playing style results from Mike D'Antoni's 7 Seconds or Less Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warrior's Splash Brothers (Steph Curry + Klay Thompson).
Although three-point shooting has been heavily emphasized, some players in recent history that, although aren't the best three-point shooters, have still become All-Stars within the modern NBA.
Without further ado, here are the Top 10 Worst Three-Point Shooters in the NBA in the 2020-2021 NBA season that also happen to be All-Stars*
P.S: All-Stars as in play like All-Stars. They don't have to actually be an All-Star. However, everybody on this list except for one person has been an All-Star, and even then, this one exception will most likely be an All-Star in the future. Also, players that don't have more than two three-point attempts per game will not be included.
Victor Oladipo (23.5%)
Victor Oladipo has always been a less than decent three-point shooter. His average three-point efficiency with the Orlando Magic was 33.9%, and during his time with the Indiana Pacers, Oladipo's three-point shooting got even better (35.9%). However, this year, Oladipo has been shooting horribly behind the arc.
In Oladipo's defense, he was injured for the entirety of the 2019-2020 NBA Season due to a ruptured quad tendon. Oladipo had to get a season-ending surgery on his right quadricep tendon this season, knocking him out of the post-season and, potentially, the 2021-2022 NBA Season.
Hopefully, Oladipo gets better soon. On the bright side, although Oladipo has never been the best shooter, Oladipo is a three-level scorer, so he can also go for layups and mid-range shots at ease.
In addition, Oladipo can play well off-ball and has great court vision and passing accuracy. Finally, his on-ball defense is extremely elite. Oladipo has successfully forced a turnover on 81% of his attempted charges.
Jimmy Butler (24.5%)
Jimmy Butler and Victor Oladipo are in the same boat. Butler has always been a less than decent three-point shooter. In his career, he has shot 32.7% from the three-point line. The difference between his three-point efficiency and attempts during his time with the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Miami Heat is really interesting.
Bulls: 33.7 3P%, 2.5 3PA
Timberwolves: 35.5 3P%, 3.6 3PA
76ers: 33.8%, 2.7 3PA
vs.
Heat: 24.4 3P%, 2 3PA
His three-point shooting is the lowest it's ever been since his third year in the NBA, and his three-point efficiency dropped by 10% compared to his most previous team (Philadelphia 76ers).
This may have more to do with the team he's on rather than his actual shooting. The Heat already has many players who can shoot threes (Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Goran Dragic, Kendrick Nunn, etc.), so Butler doesn't have to shoot threes. However, he should still be shooting better than 24.4% from the three.
Like Oladipo, Butler is an amazing defender. This season, Butler led the league in steals per game (2.1). He's also an amazing mid-range shooter and slasher, shooting 53.8% from inside the arc, the highest it's ever been. In addition, Butler is also an amazing playmaker. This season, he's had a season-high in assists at 7.1.
Demar DeRozan (24.5%)
Unlike Oladipo and Butler, DeRozan has never really shot threes. The highest number of three-point attempts he had in a season was during the 2017-2018 NBA season at 3.6. That season also happens to be his third-best three-point shooting efficiency. DeRozan is capable of shooting threes but just had found no reason to... according to him.
Before the 2016 NBA season, DeRozan was told by an anonymous NBA insider that he had to shoot threes to be a good player. DeRozan wanted to prove that theory wrong, and he definitely did as during the 2016-2017 NBA season, DeRozan averaged:
27.3 Points, 3.9 Rebounds, 5.2 Assists, 1.1 Steals, and 0.3 Blocks.
46.7 FG%, 26.6 3P%, 84.2 FT%
35.4 Minutes
Although DeRozan did well without having to shoot threes, he should still develop a three-point shot. He's a master mid-range shooter and can shoot long mid-range shots as well, yet, refuses to and is just not good at shooting threes.
DeRozan has always been a decent corner three-point shooter (36%), so he should find more opportunities to find a way to get more open look threes from the corner. Besides that, DeRozan's playmaking has improved a lot white with the San Antonio Spurs.
Anthony Davis (26%)
Last year, Anthony Davis shot 33% from the three-point line within 3.5 three-point attempts per game. However, this year, his three-point efficiency has dropped by 7%, even though he's taking 0.7 fewer three-point attempts.
Davis is definitely able to shoot threes. However, it sometimes seems like he's still not that confident behind the arc. Whenever he has the ball behind the arc, he typically pump-fakes and then proceeds to either drive to the basket or pass it to someone else.
If he continues with this pattern, good defenders will be able to predict Davis' pump-fake, and he'll end up stuck behind the arc.
On the other hand, with most players that aren't the best at three-point shooting (as seen above), they typically make up for it through their defense. Davis is the Los Angeles Lakers' centerpiece when it comes to defense due to his ability to play defense at the perimeter and post. Another aspect that can be improved on is his rebounding. This may have more to do with his injury and Andre Drummond being on the team, but Davis has averaged a career-low 7.9 rebounds a game.
Draymond Green (27%)
Besides the 2015-2016 NBA season, Draymond Green has never been a good three-point shooter. He doesn't really have to be. He has two of the best shooters on the same team as him (Steph Curry and Klay Thompson), so Green doesn't need to worry about scoring and instead focuses more on the defense and playmaking (which he has).
Green has the fourth-best defensive box plus/minus in NBA history at 2.76. He has also been on five All-Defensive teams and was named the Defensive Player of the Year during the 2016-2017 NBA season. Green is the Golden State Warrior's defensive anchor. He's able to play elite one-on-one defense and can easily switch on to other players.
He's the reason why the Warriors have the fifth-best defensive rating and third-best defensive field goal percentage. In addition, Green is an elite passer and is a good off-ball playmaker (i.e., creating actions and pick/rolls). This season he's had the highest amount of assists per game at 8.9.
On the other hand, 148 of his turnovers result from bad passes, and he's had his highest turnover percentage in his career this season (31%). I also don't think Green is exempt from three-point shooting, exceptionally this year, since Klay Thompson has been out for the season.
Pascal Siakam (29.7%)
Pascal Siakam had a very disappointing start to the season. During January, Siakam only averaged:
19.8 Points, 7.9 Rebounds, 4.3 Assists, 0.5 Blocks, and 0.9 Steals.
47.1 FG%, 20.4 3P%, 77 FT%
34.8 Minutes
Besides rebounds, all his other stats were under his season averages during the 2019-2020 NBA season. In addition, his three-point shooting efficiency completely dropped. In the 2019-2020 NBA season, on 6.1 three-point attempts, Siakam hit 35.9% of his threes. This year, besides March, Siakam has shot less than 35.9% from the three-point line.
Hopefully, he'll have a better 2021-2022 NBA season as, during the last month of the regular season, Siakam was playing quite well. In a game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Siakam had:
39 Points, 13 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Blocks, and 2 Steals.
15/26 FG, 4/8 3P, 5/7 FT
38 Minutes
Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.3%)
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a positionless player. He can play point guard, small-forward, power-forward, center, but probably isn't your best bet at shoot guard. Giannis has never been a good shooter. Throughout his career, Giannis has only scored 28.7% from his threes.
For some reason, in the 2014-2015 NBA season, Jason Kidd decided to play Giannis as shooting guard even though his skill set doesn't really match that of a shooting guard. Giannis shot 15.9% from the three that season.
However, that might have more to do with the team having a lack of shooting guards, Jared Dudley and OJ Mayo were the only two shooting guards for the Bucks back then. Also, Giannis only took 0.5 three-pointers a game, so this might have more to do with spacing the floor. The team also didn't have that many good three-point shooters. Maybe Kidd was trying to develop Giannis' three-point shot?
However, as said earlier, Giannis is a positionless player, so he makes up for his lack of a three-point shot with basically every other aspect of the game (i.e., post play, playmaking, defense, etc.). A three-point shot (and free-throw shot) is the only thing missing from his skillset. Other minor things he could improve on are his turnovers and offensive fouls.
Russell Westbrook (31.5%) and De'Aaron Fox (32.2%)
Like everybody else on this list, Westbrook has never been a good three-point shooter. This is a result of how much athleticism he has. Westbrook's athleticism (i.e., speed and strength) help him get past players to score into the basket, but because of how fast he is, he gets out of control and doesn't position his feet in the correct setting to shoot a more fluid three-point shot.
Not only that, but his shot selection is also not the best. He tends to chuck three-pointers from time to time if he thinks someone's going to foul him. In addition, he likes to take contested threes (typically corner threes), and by the time he notices that there's an open man, he's already mid-way through shooting the three.
However, Westbrook is literally a triple-double machine. Add some defense and a three-point shot, and he'd be even better.
I also put De'Aaron Fox here because he's basically in the same position as Westbrook. Similar to Westbrook, Fox is too fast for his own good sometimes. Fox's speed allows him to get past defenders off the dribble but makes it harder to take off the dribble jump-shots. However, unlike Westbrook, Fox is still young, so he still has the opportunity to develop a three-point shot.
Domantas Sabonis (32.1%)
Domantas Sabonis and Anthony Davis are kind of on the same page. The only difference is that Sabonis is probably the better playmaker, whereas Davis is the better defender. This season has been amazing for Sabonis, averaging:
20.3 Points, 12.0 Rebounds, 6.7 Assists, 1.2 Steals, and 0.5 Blocks.
53.5 FG%, 32.1 3P%, 73.2 FT%
36 Minutes
With TJ Warren gone for the entire season, it gave way for Sabonis to shoot more threes than he typically does. Last year, only 7.9% of Sabonis' shots were from the three-point line. This year that has jumped up to 17.9%, a ten percent increase! Sabonis is definitely capable of developing a three-point shot as it seems like he's progressively getting better and better at shooting threes.
2016-2017: 2.0 3PA, 32.1%
2017-2018: 0.5 3PA, 35.1%
2018-2019: 0.2 3PA, 52.9 3P%
2019-2020: 0.3 3PA, 25.4 3P%
2020-2021: 2.6 3PA, 32.1 3P%
As seen above, Sabonis isn't three-point efficiency isn't even the first or second highest in his career, but we have to also consider that he's taking the most three-point attempts ever in his career. Regardless of what the percentage says, this is probably Sabonis'' best three-point shooting year, and he'll only get better. Domantas plays a lot like his father, Arvydas Sabonis!
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