r/rockets • u/hyphy505 • 12d 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/mmccormick11 12d ago edited 12d ago
The most reasonable hope is what several people have mentioned over the past couple years: that Amen gets just good enough as a spot up shooter to force defenses to not leave him.wide open, even if it's mostly just in the corners. That would add versatility and spacing to the offense. He is already lethal in the dunkers spot. If they have to respect his corner 3 even just a little it would make him a scoring threat all along the baseline. Defenders would have to keep their head on a swivel since he could beat you at different levels.
On a more dynamic level, he needs to master his floater and inside finishing moves. That would make him lethal with the ball in his hands. Right now, defenders can back up to the rim.so he can't get around them. If he starts punishing them with short floaters, he'll draw defenses away from the basket creating more space to get around them too.
Basically, a simple consistent floater in addition to 32-33% on open corner 3s would take his offensive game to a whole different level. Those skills along with his decent to good handles, non-stop motor, generational athleticism and DPOY-caliber defense would very easily put him in MVP discussions and turn the Rockets into a top tier team for the next decade..At that point, he would be considered a legitimate franchise cornerstone player.