Memphis Grizzlies: 5 goals for Tyreke Evans in 2017-18

2. Finish at the rim efficiently

This may be the tallest task of all the goals outlined here. Evans was an extremely effective scorer by the bucket early in his career, but his numbers within three feet of the hoop have dropped off precipitously. That probably shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given his injury history.

Unless you’re exceptionally crafty, scoring at the rim is all about explosiveness. Evans’ ailments have sapped him of some of his athleticism, and while he remains big and strong enough to bounce off defenders and create space, it is unclear whether or not he’ll ever regain enough power and lift to finish as efficiently as he once did.

It’s not completely impossible. If Evans returns to health the same athlete that he was toward the start of his career, then he should have no real trouble posting impressive numbers at the rim. If not, he may need to look to kick the ball out after breaking down his man a little more frequently. Evans will need to find a balance. It’s still critical that he get to the hoop enough to keep help defenders honest.

The goal here isn’t to completely re-shape his game, but to choose when to try to finish at the hoop a bit more selectively, and in so doing increase the efficiency with which those shots drop. We’ll go with a 55.0 percent shooting percentage on looks from within three feet as a metric to keep an eye on.