Giannis, Jabari Smith Jr. Among Players With Biggest Shooting Leaps This Season

Getty Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks

With the All-Star break approaching, let’s take a minute to look at which players have improved their shooting over the first half of the season and which players have regressed.

Among players who averaged at least 10 shots per game last season and at least 10 per game so far this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks has had the greatest increase in field goal percentage, at 5.8%. The Greek Freak is shooting 61.1% from the field so far.

The Houston Rockets‘ Jabari Smith Jr. and Dillon Brooks were tied for the second highest leaps, both shooting 5.7% better from the field than they were last season.

Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies has experienced the greatest dip from a season ago, dropping 5.8%.

Now let’s get a bit more granular, looking at shooting from specific spots on the court.

Improvement on 2-Point Shots

Rim

For shots in the restricted area, which can be thought of as layups and dunks, Collin Sexton of the Utah Jazz and Devin Vassell of the San Antonio Spurs have shown the greatest improvement. Both players are shooting almost 11% better at the rim than they did the previous year.

Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat, on the other hand, is shooting an abysmal 46.6% at the rim, which is a league-worst 20% decline from where he was last year.

@AOP_NBABiggest changes in FG% at the rim.

Paint 

Vassell is also the most-improved player shooting in the paint, excluding the restricted area. Shots in this area are typically, but not always, things like floaters or push shots. Vassell is currently shooting 19.1% better in this area than he did last season.

On the other end, Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets is shooting over 20% worse in this area, at only 17.3%.

@AOP_NBABiggest changes in FG% in the paint.

Mid-Range

In the mid-range, Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard is shooting 11.5% better than he did the year prior, the largest jump in the league. Jerami Grant of the Portland Trail Blazers is just behind him, shooting 11% better from this range this year.

The Charlotte Hornet‘s newest guard, Seth Curry, is shooting nearly 20% worse in the mid-range this year, the largest drop-off in the league.

@AOP_NBABiggest change in FG% in the mid-range.

Improvement on 3-Point Shots

Corner 3

On 3-point shots from the corner, Malik Beasley of the Milwaukee Bucks, Lonnie Walker IV of the Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks are all tied for the greatest leap in shooting. Each player is shooting 15.6% better from the corner three than they did last season. Of the three of them Walker is currently shooting the highest percentage, at 56.4%.

Yuta Watanabe of the Phoenix Suns has had the largest drop-off this season, down 23.6% from the 2023-23 season.

@AOP_NBABiggest changes in FG% from the corner three.

Above the Break 3

On non-corner threes, also called above the break threes, Jalen Smith of the Pacers is shooting 21.5% better than he did last season. Smith is a fairly low-volume shooter from deep, at 2 attempts per game, but the jump is quite impressive nonetheless.

Wesley Matthews of the Atlanta Hawks has struggled massively from this spot on the floor, shooting just 14.3%, which is a 20.3% dip from last year.

@AOP_NBABiggest changes in FG% on non-corner threes.