Improving his outside shot could be nearly impossible for Hornets' Kemba Walker
As the plight of Rajon Rondo over the past few seasons demonstrated in crystal-clear clarity, it's really hard for a point guard to be effective in today's NBA if he can't shoot from outside. And that's a bit of conventional wisdom that should scare Kemba Walker and the Hornets.
Walker is a fantastic player, with a dynamite ability to get to the rim, excellent court vision and speed to burn for days. But he's also just a 31.8 percent career 3-point shooter, and the only zone on the floor from which he shoots at least 40 percent is right at the rim, per Basketball-Reference. The Hornets know that Walker must improve from deep if they're to become anything close to a contending team, but that won't be easy, as Hornets' blog At The Hive points out:
"Out of the 27 players who started their career shooting less than 33 percent from distance, only seven went on to shoot above 35.5 percent for the rest of their careers, which had to span at least an additional 200 games. Those players were Dee Brown, Greg Anthony, Terrell Brandon, Kyle Lowry, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Bobby Jackson, and John Crotty. The group shares three All Star appearances between them (two for Terrell Brandon and one for Kyle Lowry). Only one of these players averaged over four 3-point attempts per game in the latter part of their career, Kyle Lowry.
"In Walker's first four years in the league, he averaged 4.1 3-point attempts per game at a 31.8 percent rate. Only two other players from the original list of 27 shot more: Allen Iverson and Jason Williams. 22 of the players shot less than two attempts per game."
If Walker is going to improve, then, it's going to take a lot of work. But he doesn't necessarily need to become a knock-down spot-up shooter. Improving to a 33 or 34 percent clip would be enough for defenders to have to respect his shot.
(h/t At The Hive)
Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski/USA Today Sports
