The Oklahoma Thunder have been notoriously bad at shooting the three ever since Kevin Durant left but now they finally have a 3-point option.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are notoriously bad at 3-point shooting. The Thunder just haven’t had shooters on their team and that has led to tough half-court offense.
In 3-point efficiency, the Thunder ranked 22nd at 34.8 percent last season, 24th at 35.4 in 2017-18 and dead last in 2016-17. In 3-pointers made, they were 13th with 932.
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The top three teams in 3-pointers made were the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors. Those were the best teams (excluding the Rockets) in the league last year. OKC was not able to get into that category which is one of the reasons why they struggled last season.
Last season, two players were able to develop their game. Jerami Grant and Terrance Ferguson were able to expand their game and become somewhat reliable spot-up 3-point shooters.
After making only 40 4-pointers in his rookie year Terrance Ferguson was able to make 106 3-pointers in his sophomore year. After making only 32 3s the year before Jerami Grant was able to make 115 3s the next year. That was a career-high and smashed his previous career-high of 49.
If the Thunder want to have a lineup that compliments Chris Paul the most they have to look at starting Terrance Ferguson. While that may not happen because Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the future and needs to start they could pair Ferguson up with Danilo Gallinari and have shooters surrounding Chris Paul.
Gallinari will replace Jerami Grant at the power forward spot. What they will lose in athleticism they will gain in 3-point shooting.
Last season Gallinari made 161 3s, which would have easily put him at second on the Thunder’s 2018-19 team. OKC is losing its leading 3-point shooter in Paul George, who made 292 3s last year. Chris Paul is a capable 3-point shooter and will add shooting to the starting lineup. Last year he made 127 3s.
Gallinari is an efficient 3-point shooter. He shot 43.3 percent from 3-point range last year. An extremely good 3-point shooter shoots 40 percent or better from the 3-point line. The Thunder didn’t have a 40 percent 3-point shooter last year. George was the closest at 38.6 percent.
The Thunder have not been an efficient 3-point shooting team with the past couple of teams that they have assembled. Gallinari could be able to change that.
He was able to average 19.8 points per game last year. Also, he shot 46.3 percent from the field. For his career, he has averaged 15.9 points per game. The Thunder are getting a highly productive player that can help put points on the board on a consistent basis.
The Thunder have added Mike Muscala to the bench, another stretch 4 option that will add to their quest for better 3-point shooting.
This OKC team is not better than last season, but the Thunder seem to have finally solved their 3-point shooting problems. Gallinari will rely on Chris Paul to find him for open 3-point attempts and he should be able to deliver.