Brooklyn Nets: How will Shabazz Napier fit in next season?

Last season

Napier made some huge strides in Portland last year, despite what his traditional stats say. His 8.1 points, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals don’t exactly jump off the page, but in all seriousness, aren’t we better than that these days?

Napier was a valuable contributor off Portland’s bench He improved as a facilitator, scorer and most importantly, a shooter. His 37.6 percent clip on 3-pointers last year was subtly good, as was his 84.1 free throw percentage.

With the latter being a better indication of shooting prowess than the former, Napier likely has another level to him on that front. Pure variance could’ve been the difference between 37 percent and 40 percent.

Most of Napier’s success as a shooter came off the catch last season. In spot-up situations, he ranked in the 75th percentile of the NBA with 1.09 points per possession. This is especially notable when considering who Napier played with last season; typically either Damian Lillard or C.J. McCollum was leading the charge. His ability to play off such ball-dominant players will bode well for him in Brooklyn.

He can even do some initiating himself, as evidenced by his work as a pick-and-roll ball-handler in Portland. He ran 3.4 pick-and-roll plays per game as the initiator, and his conversion rate of 0.87 points per possession ranked in the 66th percentile. He’s not the score-first chucker that scouts once considered him to be coming out of college.