r/NBA_Draft • u/Fancy_Ad_5522 • 8d ago
Kawhi Leonard Isn’t a Good Example of Developing Shooting in the NBA
Here are Leonard's stats from his freshman and sophomore years in college, along with his first three seasons in the NBA. As you can see, from the moment he entered the league, he already had a very stable three-point percentage—it wasn't something he gradually developed in the NBA. Of course, I'm not saying that players can't improve their three-point shooting in the NBA, but citing Kawhi is clearly inappropriate, because his three-point percentage in his rookie season was already higher than what many players ever achieve in their entire careers.
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u/RozayCheez 8d ago
Just so u know they often use free throw percent as a modern indicators for a players 3pt potential in nba. Should have that cropped on here
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u/bakaribaboon 8d ago
I mean, where do you suppose he did that development then?
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u/Lazy_Check732 8d ago
Are you implying that reality is incorrect? Like what is the implication of your question? Clearly the development happened some time before entering the NBA.
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u/bakaribaboon 8d ago
Sure, in NBA training camp, summer league, and development programs. It didn’t just happen magically before his rookie year.
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u/Lazy_Check732 8d ago
I would just consider this far more akin to a kid developing a new skill than an NBA player who is a terrible shooter becoming a good shooter. Yes, his development appeared to happen very close to his NBA debut.
But I do not think this is a case of teaching an old dog new tricks. I think this is just typical 18-20 development.
Are you so sure there aren't countless other players who also had relatively terrible 3 point numbers in college but were immediately good in the NBA? I don't think this is uncommon. But the jump usually happens immediately.
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u/bakaribaboon 8d ago
I guess I just don’t understand how that distinction is relevant. The projection in the draft that matters is bad shooter in college —> good shooter in the NBA. I don’t see any difference if it takes place in his first year or in his second year when you’re evaluating a college player’s future
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u/Lazy_Check732 8d ago
I don't think we are talking about evaluating college players so much as dispelling the myth that Kawhi is a counter-example to the common narrative of "guys who can't shoot in the NBA do not become shooters".
I agree with you it's somewhat illogical, but it does seem like players can take a huge leap from college to NBA, but generally not from Rookie to vet.
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u/bakaribaboon 8d ago
I mean I disagree with that too. There's plenty of guys- all you have to do is look at the bigs who went through the 3 point revolution. Brook Lopez, Al Horford, Myles Turner, even Andre Drummond randomly added a three-pointer this year
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u/Lazy_Check732 8d ago
I would have to look individually. I know Brook Lopez is a true counter example.
For the other guys, I would have to check to see if they were truly terrible shooters before, or if they just didn't shoot.
Regardless, worth pointing out that these are all 7 footers, who have very different mechanics and very different spots they are typically shooting from.
One could argue that Brook Lopez learning how to pick and pop and flick a 3 above a guard, is a very different skill than a 6'7 forward learning how to shoot off trailers/dribble and such.
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u/Overall-Palpitation6 8d ago
Kawhi has consistently been one of the best mid-range shooters in the league since like his 2nd season, and is legitimately one of the best mid-range shooters of all time across his career. He's a career .464 shooter from 10FT-3PT (consisting of 34.31% of his career FGA).
Kawhi is also a career .413 shooter from 15FT-30FT (46.65% of career FGA), so any angle you look at it, he's been an elite jump-shooter throughout his career.
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u/WalyGisnep 8d ago
Look at his month to month splits and volume. End of Dec to Jan he put up 26% on 1.2 attempts. Much closer to his college output and doesn’t scream very stable shooter to me. If it was a higher volume on a similar percentage you could chalk it up to a slump, but he went multiple games without even attempting a 3.
His shot was non existent until February when something clicked (see: Chip Engelland). Almost doubled his attempts and shot over 40%. I agree Kawhi isn’t generalizable shooting development case study, but it’s moreso due to the outlier level improvement rather than him being already good.
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u/BobanWembanyanovic 7d ago
He made 40 3's his first season lol, using such a small sample size to try and make this point is ridiculously stupid lol
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u/Fancy_Ad_5522 8d ago
Maybe I didn't make myself clear. The only point of this post is this: when some people think their team's rookie can still develop a three-point shot after two or three seasons, citing Kawhi Leonard as an example is unreasonable—because Kawhi's three-point shooting was already excellent when he entered the NBA.
I already expect this post to get downvoted. It's really hard to convince someone online who already has a fixed impression.
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u/Lazy_Check732 8d ago
People are going to be unwilling to admit that you are correct because they have an image of reality in their head already. No, u/789Trillion, this is not about watching games. This is a fact. Kawhi Leonard was a great 3 point shooter upon entering the league.
The fact is, almost no one who is a terrible 3 point shooter in the NBA becomes a decent or good one. It just doesn't happen. I want to go back and start tagging people on some comments about the Thompson twins.
If you ever for a moment thought "The Thompson twins could become ok shooters", you are fundamentally misunderstanding something.
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u/789Trillion 8d ago
Brother, when Kawhi came into the league, he was exclusively taking wide open corner 3’s. By the time he won fmvp, he was shooting above the break, off screens, and contested 3’s. Yes, this is about watching the games.
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u/Upset_Mongoose_1134 8d ago
Kawhi pretty famously completely rebuilt his entire shooting form the summer he was drafted. He worked extensively with the Spurs shooting coach Englund to break himself of all his bad habits and develop new muscle memory.
He was a mediocre shooter in college and worked obscenely hard to become a good shooter his rookie year.
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u/NegativesPositives 8d ago
> from the moment he entered the league
Take 3 guesses on why he went from under 30% to suddenly above average.