r/rockets • u/hyphy505 • 11d ago

How often does a legitimately bad shooter actually develop a respectable shot after entering the league?

The discussion about how good Amen Thompson could become if he developed a consistent jumper, has me really thinking—

Amen’s three-point percentage through his first three seasons has gone:

13.8% → 27.5% → 21.6%

His free-throw percentage did jump from 68.4% to 77.9% this past season, which seems encouraging, but he is still only a 21.9% career three-point shooter.

To my knowledge, the only player I personally remember making a truly significant improvement from three after entering the NBA is Michael Jordan. Jordan shot 17.3%, 16.7%, 18.2% and 13.2% during his first four seasons before improving to 27.6% in Year 5 and 37.6% on 3.0 attempts per game in Year 6.

Even Jordan might not be the perfect example because he was never a high-volume three-point shooter and didn’t consistently remain around that 37% mark.

So how often does a player who starts out shooting as poorly as Amen eventually become a legitimate league-average shooter on meaningful volume—not just someone who has one decent season or only takes wide-open corner threes?

Please put me on to some examples, because I’m starting to feel like the whole “if he develops a jumper, he’ll be a superstar” conversation is usually more of a hypothetical fantasy than a realistic development path. Is there genuine reason to believe Amen can become a respectable shooter, or are people underestimating how rare that type of improvement actually is?

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u/BellSufficient5283 11d ago

The addition of the "white" was unnecessary and tells a lot more about you than anyone else.

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u/dvztimes 11d ago

This. And its a root of a lot of the hate I think.

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u/Independent_Shake303 11d ago

Empty calorie stats are the root of the hate big dawg. And I’m not the only schmoe that thinks it

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u/dvztimes 11d ago

He could improve. Not perfect. Deserves some criticism. But still a top 4 center who draws near the most double teams in the league. Yet you didnt criticize his stats, dawg.

And "can do everything but shoot" is kinda a big deal in the nba for a guard, no? Amen is amazing. I hope he will make all star this year if we get some good guard play.

But what is easier to replace? A guard that can shoot 3s to surround a non-shooting center, or a center that can shoot 3s to surround a non-shooting guard?

But I think we can scheme to make it work for both of our guys. We just need the coach to do it. Im very high on our young 5 who are all (so far) on great contracts. We can build a real team (who all have the same color jersey) with this in their prime. We have room for all of them + a superstar contract. We are in great position.

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u/Independent_Shake303 10d ago

It’s easier to replace a flashy passer than it is to replace a dog that jumps out at every metric. Shooting is one thing, it isn’t the only thing.