Phoenix Suns: 3 goals for Elie Okobo’s rookie season
2. Shoot 36 percent from 3
One of the Suns’ primary focuses this summer was upgrading the 3-point shooting to space the floor better. Considering they ranked dead-last in long range efficiency last year, that aspiration made perfect sense.
Okobo isn’t known as a 3-point sniper, but he’s posted more than respectable percentages from deep over the last two seasons abroad. In 2016-17 he converted 36.6 percent of his 2.2 long range attempts per game, and last season he made 39.4 percent of his 4.7 attempts per game.
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The reason those numbers aren’t getting more attention is they came on a 53-game sample size, spread over two years, while shooting on a closer 3-point line. Still, posting comparable numbers during his first year shooting from the NBA 3-point line would be incredibly encouraging.
Phoenix needs floor-spacing wherever it can be provided. Whether he’s the starter or the backup, Okobo knocking down around 36 percent of his triples during his first season would be a promising start and it’d be very easy to build on that kind of foundation moving forward.