Sacramento Kings: Omri Casspi Set To Join The 50-50-50 Club?

Omri Casspi is the perfect fit for the Sacramento Kings.

Omri Casspi is having a career-best year, and his ability to knock down the three-ball has been huge for the Sacramento Kings. As a stretch-4, Casspi’s style of play is perfectly suited to the fast-paced system that George Karl is looking to implement, and it has allowed the 27-year-old to flourish.

After shooting 37 percent from three throughout his career, including a career-worst 31 percent in 2012, Casspi has finally found his stroke within George Karl’s up-tempo system.

In 29 games under Karl last season, Casspi converted at 46 percent from beyond the arc, and this season he has elevated his play even further. In 32 games Casspi is averaging 12.8 points on an incredible 47.7 percent from long range.

Casspi’s shooting has been truly remarkable this season, and the better he shoots the more free rein he has with his shot selection, which has made for one of the most entertaining shows in basketball when he has been firing. Even Stephen Curry had to elevate his game to keep up with Casspi when the Kings came to town.

Casspi’s 47.7 percent clip from beyond the arc puts him third in the league for three-point field goal percentage, behind only J.J. Redick and Kawhi Leonard. This means that Casspi is currently shooting better from deep than knock-down shooters like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Paul George.

From an analytical standpoint, Casspi is playing near-perfect basketball this season, having almost completely removed midrange attempts from his game.

Throughout the entire season, Omri has only attempted 19 shots between the paint and the three-point line, and he has only attempted one long two, which is the least efficient shot in basketball according to statistics. As a result, his efficiency has skyrocketed, and he has one of the best effective field goal percentages in the game (62 percent).

However, the total absence of shots between the free-throw and three-point lines could help explain the one glaring issue in Casspi’s percentages this season: his poor free-throw shooting.

Although Casspi is shooting 51 percent from the field and 48 percent from three, he has only managed 58 percent from the line. This is a severe drop off for Casspi, who is a career 67.5 percent free-throw shooter, with a career-best 73 percent from the line last year.

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These aren’t the numbers of an elite free throw shooter, but they are a far cry from the sub-60 percent numbers he has produced this season.

It’s almost unheard of to see a player shooting 48 percent from three, but only 10 percent better from the charity stripe. Most elite shooters, like Curry and Redick, are looking to join the coveted 50-40-90 club, but with his terrible free throw shooting, Casspi is much more likely to join the very odd, 50-50-50 club.

Perhaps Casspi has put so much work into nailing shots from long range that his muscle memory no longer allows him to make jump shots from inside the arc. That would certainly explain why he looks more comfortable shooting from a foot or two behind the three-point line.

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One thing is for certain, though. It seems as if developing into one of the league’s best three-point shooters has come at a cost for Casspi, but it is a cost I am sure he and the Kings are willing to pay.

A little bit more time at the line wouldn’t hurt, though.