Memphis Grizzlies: 5 goals for Ben McLemore in 2017-18

5. Be a high volume 3-point threat

This goal is about building on McLemore’s strengths. He knocked down a very respectable 38.2 percent of his 5.2 three-point attempts per 36 minutes last year (per Basketball-Reference). That’s not an outrageous volume, but it’s inching towards a level that defenders can’t ignore. Spacing the floor is as much about convincing defenders that shooters will pull the trigger as it is about convincing them that they have a reasonable chance at making shots.

Obviously there is a fine line here. Taking contested threes for volume’s sake is a bit of a fool’s errand, but that’s not what we’re advocating for. This is more about a redistribution of looks. McLemore took 21.2 percent of his shots from between 16 feet and the 3-point line. If he can convert a significant percentage of those shots into 3-point attempts without taking too much of a dip in his overall efficiency, it should have a positive effect on his value.

He’ll need a little bit of help from the coaching staff to make that happen. Shot distribution is tied closely to the type of offensive system a player functions within. That shouldn’t be much of a problem. Head coach David Fizdale has the Grizzlies trending towards a style of play that prioritizes 3-point shooting. Memphis finished last year 12th in 3-point attempts per 100 possessions, compared to Sacramento’s 24th (per Basketball-Reference).

As one final note before moving on to our next goal, we should be clear that becoming a high volume threat from deep, in this instance, doesn’t mean taking lots of Stephen Curry-esque off-the-dribble triples. McLemore is an above average spot-up shooter, and those are the kind of threes he should be seeking out. He’s got a pair of brilliant passers in Mike Conley and Marc Gasol that should help him find them.

We’ll set the bar at 37.0 percent on 7.0 or more 3-point attempts per 36 minutes.