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But he falls all the way to 56th in true shooting percentage, a better measure of all-around scoring efficiency. Perhaps the most damning note about Ayton’s free-throw avoidance is that among qualifying players this season, according to Basketball-Reference, he ranks 10th in basic field goal percentage, meaning he’s quite accurate in the shots he does take from the floor.
DEANDRE AYTON STATS FREE
But that advantage disappears with free throws, which guarantee a set defense no matter what. Teams typically score about five more points per 100 possessions after a missed 2- or 3-pointer than after a make because misses spark transition opportunities. (That’s especially true for the Suns Chris Paul is the master of drawing non-shooting fouls.)įree throws also help a team’s defense on the ensuing possession. Crucially, free throws offer hidden benefits beyond mere points: They force opponents into foul trouble, of course, and also generate free points once a team has reached the bonus. Among fellow bigs, he’s always ranked among the leaders in the percentage of his shots that come from midrange.įor NBA players, there’s more to drawing fouls than giving folks a reason to complain about James Harden’s style. But then he must improve his foul-drawing ability, both to embrace one avenue of scoring efficiency and to stop sticking out like an unfortunate outlier in the modern NBA. Perhaps Ayton, with that awkwardly jutted elbow in his shooting form, won’t ever develop Vucevic’s comfort from distance. The Orlando big man leads the league in open 3-point makes and attempts. But Vucevic-who is also much more of a playmaker and offensive hub, with about double Ayton’s assist rate-evolved along with the league and is now an accomplished marksman, hitting 43 percent of his 6.2 3-point attempts per game. Half a decade ago, he was also in Ayton’s neighborhood as a low-3, low-free-throw center. Vucevic offers a useful point of comparison. One would suspect a career 74 percent free throw shooter would have the ability to expand his range, but Ayton’s shooting stroke from deep is disjointed and far too rickety.įouls Drawn on Post-Ups, 2019 Through 2021 Player He rarely ventures beyond the arc after taking 35 3s in 35 games in college, he’s attempted just 32 3s (and made just six, or 19 percent) in 135 NBA games. Thus, Ayton’s low figures in both of these efficient scoring routes are so strange. Overall, 2-point shot attempts yield fouls about 10 times as often as 3s, per PBP Stats. This makes sense: Prolific shooters like Bucks-era Brook Lopez and Ayton’s main backup, Dario Saric, don’t get fouled often, while bigs who do all their work inside the arc, like Zion Williamson and Rudy Gobert, post sky-high free throw rates. Look at that top graph again, showing players’ 3-point and free throw rates, and you’ll spot an inverse relationship between the two stats. Chris Paul and Devin Booker have started to jell in the backcourt, Mikal Bridges is making a leap, and Monty Williams is the Coach of the Year favorite. Phoenix is a fundamentally solid team, now at 17-9 with a six-game win streak and in fourth place in the West. For players who didn’t shoot many 3s (fewer than 10 percent of their total shot attempts), these are the seasons with the lowest free throw rates: If you’re not a visual learner, here is the pertinent result in text form. Notice the repeated outlier in the bottom left. Here’s a graph of the 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 (so far) seasons, with one dot for each player who averaged 10-plus points per game in 500-plus total minutes. 1 draft pick, playing for a legitimate contender that hasn’t made the playoffs in more than a decade, we’re professionally compelled to dig deeper. And when that same player is also a recent no. When the same player is an outlier year after year, our pencils perk up. It’s easier to craft a narrative (or a spicy, scorching take) around a player at the bottom or top of a leaderboard than in the middle of the pack the slim ends offer more room for exploration than the wide middle of the bell curve.