Portland Trail Blazers: Ranking CJ McCollum in the NBA’s best shooters
Shooter #7 – Chris Paul
Future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul, is one of the greatest mid-range shooters ever to grace a basketball court. At around 47 percent for his career, Paul is an expert proponent of the mid-range. He has always been a pick and roll savant, with the ability to get the defender on his back and then pullup from a range of spots inside the arc.
Paul has never made an NBA Finals, but he has been just as efficient in the playoffs as he was in the regular season.
He is one of the greatest free-throw shooters in NBA History as well. Paul is the guy you want to have the ball in his hands at the end of games. He has hit countless tough shots from all over the court in his NBA career.
Career stats
Mid-range – 47.5 percent
Three pointer Percentage – 36.9 percent
Free Throw Percentage – 87.1 percent
True Shooting Percentage – 58.2 percent
Shooter #6 – Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving, like McCollum, is an elite tough shot maker. He has a multitude of different shots, and combines those with one of the best handles in the game. He is one of the best off the dribble shooters also. Like most of these guys that are high on this list, Irving is elite from all three spots.
He can pullup from the mid-range or catch and shoot from most spots beyond the arc. He has great depth on his three, and has off-ball movement to come off screens for shots too.
Irving has proven all these skills at the highest level in the playoffs too. He has one of the biggest made shots in NBA Finals history for the Cleveland Cavaliers, ultimately winning an NBA Championship after a made three.
Career stats
Mid-range – 44 percent
Three pointer Percentage – 39.1 percent
Free Throw Percentage – 87.8 percent
True Shooting Percentage – 57.3 percent
Shooter #5 – Klay Thompson
If Klay Thompson never plays another NBA game, he will still go down as one of the greatest shooters to ever grace a basketball court.
Thompson has some of the most iconic shooting games in NBA History. He holds the NBA record for made threes – at a whopping 14. And he has the famous 60 points in three-quarters game too.
Klay’s strength is his ice-cold shot-making, and some of the most efficient three-point shooting ever seen on an NBA court. Klay isn’t at special rates in terms of his mid-range or free throw but still hits them higher than most of the league.
On threes, Klay’s career rate is a whopping 41.9 percent, on a massive volume of seven attempts a game.
Klay is about to miss his second consecutive season due to a torn Achilles, but he will return in 2022 to regain his place higher on this list.