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Can Damian Lillard’s Three-Point Shot Help His Teammates?

By Carlos Diaz

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Now that LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, and Wesley Matthews are gone (excuse me a moment while I sob violently), Damian Lillard is simultaneously the best scorer and playmaker on the team. A cursory glance at his numbers suggests that he is more than up for it.

During the last two seasons in 457 minutes without Aldridge, Batum, and Matthews; Lillard averaged 25.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists while having a true shooting percentage of 58.9 percent per 36 minutes.

Obviously this is not a large sample size, but this may not be far off of what he can accomplish this upcoming season. While Lillard’s scoring will not be a cause for concern (personally, I am looking forward to the Damian Lillard Get Buckets Tour of 2016), his assist numbers are lacking for a point guard of his talent.

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Over the last two seasons, he assisted on 26.5 percent of his teammates made field goals, while Batum assisted on 20.1 percent. Batum has functioned as the co-playmaker of the team, and it is fair to wonder if Lillard can shoulder the role of as sole playmaker.

These numbers probably will not trend in an upward and efficient direction while Gerald Henderson–arguably– is the second-best scoring threat on the team. (Where is the Kleenex I was using earlier?)

While Lillard cannot change the skills of his teammates, he can certainly affect the quality of their open shots by using his greatest weapon: his three-point shooting. When accounting for amount of shots Lillard makes from long distance and off-the-dribble, Lillard may be the second best three-point shooter in the NBA.

Despite Lillard’s seemingly infinite cold streak last season, he shot 36.2 percent from 25-29 feet last season on 343 attempts. That was the third highest shooting percentage for players with at least 300 attempts. His pull-up three-point shooting did not fare as well last season though.

He shot 32.8 percent on pull up 3-pointers, the sixth-highest percentage for players who attempted at least three pull-up three-pointers a game. Those numbers may be an outlier considering he shot 35.7 percent on pull-up three-pointers in 2014, the second-highest percentage among players with at least three attempts.

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    • It should be no surprise that the player who ranked first in both pull-up three-point shots and shots in the 25-29 foot range was Stephen Curry (he’s basically the NBA equivalent of the fire emoji). Now that Lillard is the hub of the offense, the coaching staff of the Trail Blazers may want to take a page out of the Golden State Warriors playbook or several actually.

    Lillard excelled in the pick-and-roll, participating in 767 pick-and-roll plays last year, scoring 0.9 points per possession. While this may seem blasphemous, Coach Stotts may want to incorporate plays using Lillard off screens and hand-off action. Last season, there were only 80 possessions where Lillard came off screens as opposed to Curry who participated in 151 possessions.

    Considering the dearth of offensive talent on the team, the Blazers are going to need Lillard to draw a significant amount of attention to give his teammates opportunities to score. Curry bends defenses by curling and cutting through multiple screens, making every defender react to his movements, creating open shots for his teammates.

    His shooting ability puts actual fear in opposing defenses. Lillard may not inspire the same amount as fear as Curry does (nobody does), and the Blazers lack the passers the Warriors have but the effect can be replicated to some extent. This is a transition year in the franchise so ultimately the Blazers will not be sacrificing their position in a hyper-competitive conference.

    If there was a time to try something new, it is now.

    Next: The Blazers' New Crop Of Defenders

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