Who Will Lead The Sacramento Kings in Three-Point Percentage?

One important part of the Sacramento Kings putting an end to their losing ways is going to be three-point shooting. In today’s NBA being a great three-point shooting team is essentially equivalent to being a good team.

More from Kings News

That claim seems dubious, I know. But the top ten teams in three-point shooting percentage and 13 of the top 14 all made the playoffs. The only team to miss out in the top 14 was the Indiana Pacers, who were very close to getting in. So clearly there’s at least some sort of relationship between long distance shooting and success in the Association.

The Kings came in 21st in three-point percentage last season, but it certainly wasn’t Omri Casspi‘s fault. The Israeli forward managed a crisp 40.2 percent from long-range, which led Sacramento last season. With the new players Vlade Divac added in the offseason, will Casspi be able to retain his title as the Kings’ top shooter?

His toughest competition might come from players already on the Kings. Fellow forward Rudy Gay isn’t known for being a marksman but did manage to shoot nearly 36 percent from three-point range and still has room to improve as a shooter.

The guard spot will probably pose the greatest threats to Casspi this season, however. Newcomer Rajon Rondo isn’t a threat to score from anywhere on the floor, but Ben McLemore and Darren Collison certainly are. They shot 35.8 percent and 37.3 percent respectively from deep last season.

April 5, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore (23) dribbles the basketball during the second quarter against the Utah Jazz at Sleep Train Arena. The Jazz defeated the Kings 101-95. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Although he was the worse of the two I expect McLemore to really improve on his shooting this season. Lots of players make third year leaps in basketball, and hopefully part of McLemore’s third season is seeing him grow as a shooter in Sacramento.

Any of those incumbent Kings could make a run at Casspi’s Sacramento shooting title, but I think newcomers will make the biggest push. Obviously former three-point contest champion Marco Belinelli is going to continue to drain three-pointers in Sacramento.

But I’ve been very high on Seth Curry since he signed with the Kings, and the biggest reason for that is his great ability to make shots from all over–he might be less proven that Belinelli, but his upside is tremendous.

Curry was pretty good in his first season in the D-League (37.2 percent from behind the arc) but posted some absolutely incredible numbers last season. Curry managed to shoot a remarkable 46.7 percent from deep, which would’ve been good enough for second in the NBA last season–only Kyle Korver was better.

It’s probably pretty unrealistic to expect Curry to maintain that sort of incredible marksmanship in the NBA, but it’s not impossible for him to be a 40 percent-plus shooter based on that streak he had last season.

And for anyone worried about his 43 game sample size, Curry managed to make more threes in those 43 games than any Kings player did last season–156 of them, to be exact. The kid can shoot.

Honestly though, I’m not real concerned with which of the Kings is the best shooter, as long as Sacramento becomes a better shooting team in general. I’d like to see more than one Kings player manage to shoot over 40 percent this season, so hopefully a few of these players can give Casspi a run for his money next season.

More from A Royal Pain

Next: The Kings Pack A Punch

More from A Royal Pain

Schedule