Utah Jazz 2016-17 season review: Alec Burks
By Adam Coffman
Strengths
Perimeter shooting has never been more important in the NBA, and all things considered, Burks seems to be apt at providing this skill.
Although he shot just 33 percent from behind the arc this year, he’s a career 36 percent marksman who hit at 38 and 41 percent the previous two years.
On catch-and-shoot threes, he shot 37.3 percent in 2016-17, in sharp contrast to his 26.1 clip on pull-up three-pointers. Thus, any shooting struggles he’s seemed to have look to be errors of judgment rather than lack of ability.
When he’s on his game, as he was March 11 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, most of his value comes from nailing spot-up jump shots and getting to the free throw line.
Drawing contact around the hoop is one of Burks’ greatest assets. His free throw rate (defined as number of free throws per field goal attempt) of 0.315 ranks among the league’s best, and even that represents a step down from his career value of 0.405.
This gives him the ability to function either as an on-ball creator playing with bench units or as an off-ball secondary or tertiary option with starters.
His passing leaves a little to be desired, but Burks also has the ability to run a pick-and-roll, scoring 0.947 points per possession as a ballhandler, according to Synergy.