Milwaukee Bucks: Tony Snell is a flamethrower

Tony Snell’s shooting has been nothing short of historic for the Milwaukee Bucks this season, largely thanks to his teammates.

It’s not James Harden or Kevin Durant. Nor is it LeBron James or Stephen Curry. The most efficient offensive player in basketball? It’s Tony Snell, of course.

Snell, acquired from the Chicago Bulls last October, had a productive first season with the Milwaukee Bucks. Entering the year as a career 35.1 percent 3-point shooter, Snell elevated his shooting, hitting at a career-best 40.6 percent from deep.

Snell parlayed that career year into a handsome payday, agreeing to a four-year, $46 million ($44 million guaranteed) deal to stay in Milwaukee this offseason.

So far, that contract is looking like a very prudent investment by the Bucks, because Tony Snell is a flamethrower:

The ridiculousness of Snell’s shot chart is twofold. Most obviously, he’s the epitome of Morey-ball. Snell has attempted just two of his 61 shots from outside the paint but within the 3-point line; he only takes the most optimal shots, settling for something lesser just three percent of the time.

More importantly, look at the green-to-red ratio. He doesn’t miss. Snell is shooting 55.7 percent from the floor and 51.4 percent from 3. His effective field goal percentage, which weighs for 3s being more valuable than 2s, is a league-leading 71.3 percent. The highest single season effective field goal percentage in NBA history was 72.7 percent in 1972-73 by one Wilt Chamberlain (minimum 500 minutes).

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Snell is also perfect from the free throw line this year, so his true shooting percentage, which accounts for the increased value of threes and free throws, is a league-best 72.8 percent. That mark would rank as the best ever if Snell were to maintain it for the whole year (minimum 500 minutes).

I, for one, would find it pretty neat if Tony Snell was suddenly the unholy amalgamation of Kyle Korver and Ray Allen on steroids, but unfortunately, some regression is certainly coming. What Snell’s doing is unprecedented partially because it’s simply impossible to be this good over the course of an entire season.

However, some of this ridiculous efficiency is real, and it has very little to do with Tony Snell.

Take a look at the highlights from Snell’s most productive game of the season, a 126-121 loss at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets, in which Snell put up 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field (5-of-6 from 3):

Life as Tony Snell looks fun. Malcolm Brogdon gets dribble penetration on a pick-and-pop with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Snell’s man has to help on Thon Maker, as he can’t be left alone under the basket: open 3.

Khris Middleton gets the dribble handoff from Giannis, Snell’s man tries to deny penetration, Snell relocates, making the defender’s recovery harder: open 3.

Giannis posts up, drawing the double from Snell’s man: open 3.

Snell gets to stand still and shoot wide open catch-and-shoot threes all day. He doesn’t even have to run through mazes of screens, as most elite shooters do, to get his open looks—they simply fall into his lap. I’ll say it again: life as Tony Snell looks fun.

Next: 2017-18 Week 4 NBA Power Rankings

Snell deserves an immense amount of credit for transforming himself from an average shooter to elite. But his historic shooting speaks more to the performance of his teammates, and credit to them for turning Tony Snell into a flamethrower.