So, why shouldn’t Ayton?
Deandre Ayton should absolutely shoot 3’s this coming season, whether he drains them at a Karl-Anthony Towns-like rate, or not.
Odds are, of course, he will not make 3’s at a 40.0% clip right out of the gates of his career (after a slow rookie start, of course), but even if he made and attempted 3’s the way Joel Embiid does (1 make per game at 30.0% of attempts), by having this shot in his arsenal, he will only force defenses to come out on him and respect that that shot can go in.
That said, let’s just say that for the sake of argument he at least attempted 3’s at the rate of Towns, shooting 4.6 per game and about 377 a year.
It’s not like Towns never spends any time in the post. Only 27.0% of his shot attempts came from beyond the arc last season, while 58.6% were from 10 feet and in.
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Towns still attempted 12.5 2-point field goals per game, and averaged only 5.4 of his 24.4 points per game from 3.
And don’t worry: Rubio will still find a way to get plenty of alley-oops up Ayton’s way.
The same (or similar) would undoubtedly occur for Ayton, with the majority of his baskets coming from around the hoop, only stretching out when a particular play was called for such an shot attempt to occur.
Guaranteeing his stretching himself to becoming a 3-point shooter too may be both advantageous for both his legs and his defense.
One would have to image that the majority of his 3-point shots would actually not occur on an offensive set but rather out of a fastbreak opportunity where he is likely to lag a little behind the speedster guards Devin Booker and Ricky Rubio.
Then, in those instances when they find that their expected fastbreak lanes have been closed down, the new arrival Ayton can hang out up top waiting for a dish and quick and open shot.
By becoming a 3-point shooter, Ayton thus would not have to force his way all the way to beneath the hoop on every fastbreak, not only potentially clogging the lane, but saving some steps should he get down there, only to have a shot attempted by a teammate (whether missed or made), then have to trudge all the way up to get back on defense.
The presumption is that under new head coach Monty Williams, Deandre Ayton is going to become even more of an offensive focal point than he was at any point his rookie season. If he is, fans should expect to see some downright awesome statistics, the kind that we may have never seen from a center in franchise-history.
In the modern NBA, centers are beginning to take outside shots at clips that would make the centers of the past blush. And as one of the more athletic and capable young bigs in the league, there is no reason to believe that Ayton couldn’t, so therefore, should.