NBA: Top 5 three point shooters

With the NBA trending towards a more wide open, analytics minded game, the three point shot is becoming more and more prevalent as teams are on pace to shoot the most threes ever in a season (1,938 threes per team, up from 1,838 threes per team last season).Teams are actively hunting for threes more than ever, even getting perceived bad shooters to beging chucking up the shot worth an extra point. The saying goes, “If you can make 33% of your threes, it’s just as good as shooting 50% from two.”While it is up to interpretation that having someone who shoots 33% from three taking multiple treys a game, there is no discussion that we are watching some of the top marksmen from three who have ever played the game this season.As teams get more creative with how to get their true good shooters open, these marksmen are upping their efficiency while mostly keeping their percentages in the low to mid 40s. With that, lets dive into who have been the best three point shooters this season.Must shoot over 3.5 threes per game to qualify.

#5 Kawhi Leonard

Just as Kawhi fends off three point attempts like few have in history while on defense, he has fended off a multitude of three point shooters who were gunning for this number five spot. Players like C. J. McCollum and Paul George, shooters who create for themselves and take over six treys a game, and snipers like Mirza Teletovic had a higher volume and close enough percentage to Leonard to merit a spot on this list, but I felt it impossible to leave off a guy who is making 48% on 3.9 threes a game.

Leonard came into the league as someone who needed work on his jumper, and after never making more than 38% of his threes, he has shown this season that his shot is all figured out now. Even though I am someone who really prides efficiency coupled with volume, I couldn’t deny Kawhi, who ranks second in the league currently, despite a slight downturn since the turn of the calendar. Some people want to knock him for not being a guy who creates his own threes, but until others start knocking down almost 50% of their spot up threes, I don’t think that is a discussion worth having.

#4 Kevin Durant

In at number four on the list is Kevin Durant, back from a foot injury that destroyed most of last season and knocking down shots like he never left. Durant is in the mold of another player who will pop up later on this list as a top flight scorer and player who creates a fair share of his three point looks himself, off the dribble. He is currently shooting 5.8 threes a game and knocking down exactly 40% good for 13th in the league. The reason he is able to come in at number four on the list despite being outside the top 10 in percentage is because I take into strong consideration how difficult a players attempts are, and KD’s difficulty offsets him being a little lower in percentage than others.

In another stellar season by the former MVP, it will be interesting to see if he can challenge his career high of 41.6% from the 2012-2013 season. However, he only shot 4.1 threes per game that year, so if he is able to up his percentage slightly while take almost two more threes a game, this will no doubt be his best season from three.

#3 Klay Thompson

Klay comes in at number three, as he once again knocks down three after three as a part of the sweetest shooting backcourt we have ever seen. People want to quibble over Klay playing with another great shooter as the reason it is so easy for him to can threes, but you don’t shoot over 40% on over six threes a game, four years running, without being a great marksmen. He follows in the long line of classic two guards who can stroke, think Reggie Miller, as he traverses screens and hunts those tiny opening with which to launch another triple.

This season he has been even a little more quick with his trigger, taking threes he would have normally passed up in previous season as he becomes more and more comfortable with his ability and fit in the offense. One of the cooler sights this season has been when Klay catches the ball on the wing, about two or three feet behind the three point line, and pauses for a second to scan the defense before deciding, “I can stroke this” and cashing a triple in a defenders face.

#2 J. J. Redick

The man who upset Klay Thompson for number two on this list is in the midst of shooting 50% from three since the start of December on six threes a game. J. J. Redick is shooting like a man possessed right now, as he has been the top catch and shoot artist this season. You can tell how comfortable he is in his third season now with the Clippers, almost having a sixth sense as he runs around the myriad of screens the Clippers will set him on any given possession. He works especially well with DeAndre Jordan, as both strike abject fear in their opponents and thus create opportunities for one another, sometimes without even touching the ball.

Redick has always been one of the best three point shooters in the league (career 40%), but he is the classic case of an elite specialist who becomes other worldly when he becomes comfortable in a system while being surrounded by great teammates. It is going to be interesting to see how Redick continues throughout the rest of the season, as we have never seen a player take over 5.5 threes a game and knock down 50%.

#1 Stephen Curry

As if you expected anyone else to be at the top of this list. Stephen Curry does things that we have never seen on a basketball court when it comes to shooting threes, plain and simple. The previous best three point shooters of all time, Ray Allen and Reggie Miller, were both guys who thrived running around screens and launching triples the moment their man lagged behind them even a little. They were expert shooters, but little of their three point shooting took place after they created their shot off the dribble.

This season Curry has taken his three creation levels into a stratosphere never seen before. He has somehow found a way to up his attempts per game (10.7 this year, 8.1 last season) while also upping his percentage from 44% to 45%. He on needs 94 threes the rest of the season to break his record for makes from last season (286), and he still has 40 games left in the season. Among players with over 3.5 threes per game, he is 4th in percentage despite taking 2.5 more than his next closest competitor (Damian Lilliard is at 8.7 attempts per game but only 38%). Plain and simple, Steph does thing that no one has seen and he is only showing signs of getting better and more confident with his shot. He’s the best shooter this year, last year, and of all time.