Orlando Magic: 3 goals for Jerian Grant in 2018-19

3. Improve shooting

The one thorn in the side of Grant’s game so far in the NBA has been his inability to consistently shoot the ball. In 213 career games, Grant is only shooting an average of 41.1 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from 3.

In 2016-17, Grant had career numbers shooting-wise, with splits of .425/.366/.890. In 2017-18, he averaged a career high in points, assists, rebounds, steals and minutes, but his shooting numbers went down to .415/.324/.745 splits in 22.8 minutes a game, compared to the 16.3 per game he received the year before. What gives?

It’s encouraging to see a player improve in every statistical category despite only averaging six more minutes, but when the shooting numbers go down quite a bit, it’ll raise some eyebrows.

In 2018-19, Grant will have to improve these shooting numbers if he wants to stay on the court.

Orlando’s offense this season will be a mixed bag. There will be more low-scoring nights than high scoring ones, as this team is trending toward length and defense rather than shooting and buckets. This showed in the Magic’s lack of drive in getting a scoring point guard (ahem, Isaiah Thomas) during free agency, instead sticking with Augustin and making a move for Grant.

For Grant to stick out on this roster, scoring will have to be his modus operandi on the floor. He showed that he was a go-to scorer at Notre Dame where he was a first-team All-American in 2015, averaging 16.5 points a game. What’s stopping him in the league?

I think having an expanded role in Orlando will provide a confidence boost for Grant. In the 16 games in which he played 30+ minutes, he averaged 12.6 points, 7.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds a game.

While that scoring average leaves something to be desired, the assist and rebounding numbers are impressive. If he can become a consistent scorer and bump his shooting averages up, the possibility for a future in Orlando is there for Grant.