The Warriors’ lingering shooting woes could speed up a trade pursuit that appeared originally on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors’ joyous run, winning 10 of their first 12 games, was largely the result of stellar defense, a reasonable assist-to-turnover ratio and fantastic 3-point shooting. They earned that 10-2 record.
Since then, they have lost eight of 12, with all three categories falling. 3-point shooting percentage dropped from third in the NBA to 14th.
Can this list be renewed? Or does general manager Mike Dunleavy and his front office need to step up their intensity toward the trade?
Or maybe this is something that will disappear in the next few games. An ambush.
“No,” Lindy Waters III said Friday after practice. “No.
“The ball’s going to go in. Overnight, you’re going to miss defensive schemes, everything you can take into account.” From the outside, you might think it’s an ambush.
But like I said, we were in every single game. We had chances to win a lot of games. But I would never call it a slump.”
Waters came to the Warriors over the summer as a branch plucked from the 3-point shooting tree in Oklahoma City. He had a great start, but cooled off noticeably. The 6-foot-6 wing shot 40.7 percent from deep through the team’s first dozen, but is down to 30.6 percent since then.
Waters has plenty of company in a recent team photo. Let’s take a look at the designated 3-point shooters on Golden State’s roster:
Stephen Curry, the all-time three-point king, was at 43.2 percent through 12 and has dropped slightly to 39.8 percent since then.
Buddy Hield, one of the NBA’s true 3-point shooters, dropped from 46.9 percent in the first 12 games to 37.6 percent in the next 12. Still respectable, but below his norm and a significant drop from his initially unsustainable number.
De’Anthony Melton shot a respectable 37.1 percent, but lasted 11 games before a knee injury ended his season.
Moses Moody shot 45.8 percent in the team’s first 12 games, 23.5 percent since.
Jonathan Kuminga, who was advised to spend last summer refining his 3-point shooting, has struggled from the start, shooting 31.7 percent through the first 12 and 30.2 percent since.
Draymond Green isn’t one of the sharpshooters in the league, so his 45.2 percent mark in the top 12 never held up. Since then, it has been at 29.7 percent.
Only two players, Brandin Podziemski and Andrew Wiggins, are now draining the 3-ball more effectively than before. After shooting 19.1 percent through the first 12 games, Podziemski has shot 31.6 percent since then — but a stunning 41.2 percent over the last five games. Wiggins was 37 percent through the first 12, but has shot 47.4 percent since then.
While that approach has been hurt by recent inefficiency, coach Steve Kerr believes he still has enough quality shooters to compete at the highest level.
“I think we have a lot of shooting,” Kerr said. “We are trying to find suitable combinations. There are times when we put a combo on the floor where it’s maybe a little too slanted toward offense or defense, and now we’re crunching it a little bit.
“We’re deep, but we still have to really handle the full 48 in terms of balancing our rotations.”
When Melton went down, Kerr realized he had to settle on a backup starter in the bullpen. Could have gone with Gary Payton II, awesome but struggles to make threes. There was Podziemski, whose 3-pointers are starting to fall in line, but he is vulnerable on defense. Kerr initially turned to Waters, someone on the fringes of the rotation but could offer a good balance between offense and defense.
All three had opportunities to start alongside Curry, with Payton being the last. If he’s on the floor with Kuming and Green, the Warriors have three players who don’t command defenders at the arc.
And I think the Warriors opened the season looking like they had enough shooting depth to play “four out,” with at least four players comfortable shooting from long range. They were finally ready to join the rest of the NBA.
However, the device did not work as well as in the beginning. There is certainly no surplus of shooters.
“You can never have too much,” Kerr admitted. “I think the loss of Melton was a big part of what we’ve seen the last few weeks because what you really need is two-way.” You need a shooter who can also defend so you don’t have to make decisions based on offense or defense.”
That was Melton, a high-level defender and solid shooter from beyond the arc. He was sure he was a “perfect fit” for what Golden State had in mind.
An ideal replacement could be found somewhere in the league, but he is not on the current roster.
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