Pacers forward Jalen Smith has posted the biggest shooting improvement in the NBA this season.
Shooting is the most important thing in this game. And improved shooting is what can allow a player to stick in the NBA.
It’s still early, but with the season more than 20% complete, here are the players who’ve seen the biggest jumps in effective field goal percentage from last season to this season.
Biggest jumps, effective FG%, 2022-23 to 2023-24
| 2022-23 | 2023-24 | Diff. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | FGA | FG% | eFG% | FGA | FG% | eFG% | eFG% |
| Jalen Smith | 508 | 47.6% | 53.0% | 75 | 70.7% | 80.0% | +27.0% |
| Malik Beasley | 937 | 39.5% | 52.0% | 147 | 49.0% | 65.6% | +13.6% |
| Simone Fontecchio | 312 | 36.9% | 47.0% | 85 | 44.7% | 60.0% | +13.0% |
| Alex Caruso | 286 | 45.5% | 55.1% | 99 | 54.5% | 67.7% | +12.6% |
| Cameron Payne | 453 | 41.5% | 49.0% | 82 | 47.6% | 61.0% | +12.0% |
| Jalen Johnson | 322 | 49.1% | 53.7% | 143 | 59.4% | 65.4% | +11.7% |
| Duncan Robinson | 237 | 37.1% | 50.4% | 172 | 47.7% | 61.9% | +11.5% |
| Jabari Smith Jr. | 892 | 40.8% | 47.5% | 171 | 50.3% | 58.8% | +11.2% |
| Aaron Nesmith | 590 | 42.7% | 52.5% | 103 | 51.5% | 63.6% | +11.1% |
| Moritz Wagner | 396 | 50.0% | 56.4% | 136 | 63.2% | 67.3% | +10.8% |
eFG% = (FGM + (0.5 * 3PM)) / FGA
Minimum 200 FGA in 2022-23 and 75 FGA in 2023-24 (215 players)
Through Nov. 29, 2023
A few notes:
- Jalen Smith just qualified for this exercise with 75 field goal attempts and ranks just ninth on the Pacers in total minutes, but his shooting improvement is rather remarkable and isn’t insignificant in regard to Indiana having the most efficient offense in NBA history. He’s seen a big drop in 3-point rate, but has shot 14-for-21 (67%) from deep and 39-for-54 (72%) inside the arc. Unfortunately, he suffered multiple leg injuries on Monday and will miss some time.
- Malik Beasley and Cameron Payne both had future Hall of Famers as teammates last season, but seem to be benefitting from playing alongside their current future HOF teammates: Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. According to Second Spectrum tracking, 37% of Beasley’s 3-pointers have been wide open, up from 25% last season.
- Alex Caruso has been one of the bright spots in Chicago. His 3-point rate (57% of his shots have come from beyond the arc) and 3-point percentage (26-for-56, 46%) are both career-high marks.
- Jalen Johnson looked like a serious Kia Most Improved candidate, seeing big jumps in both per-game numbers and efficiency, before suffering a fracture in his left wrist last week.
- Duncan Robinson, one of the most dangerous 3-point shooters of the last five seasons, has seen a big jump in effective field goal percentage with a big drop in 3-point rate. In 16 games, he’s already made eight more 2-pointers (33) than he did all of last season (25). Of course, he’s also shot 43% from deep, a big recovery from a rough shooting season (32.8%) in ’22-23.
- We were hoping for significant improvement from Jabari Smith Jr., and he’s certainly taken a step forward. His usage rate is actually down a tick from last season, and he’s still not getting a lot of his shots (just 40%) in the paint. But he’s seen huge improvements in his shooting in the paint (from 54% to 66%) from mid-range (38% to 48%) and from 3-point range (31% to 37%).
The other end of the list
Here who’s seen the biggest drop in effective field goal percentage among those same 215 players …
Biggest drops, effective FG%, 2022-23 to 2023-24
| 2022-23 | 2023-24 | Diff. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | FGA | FG% | eFG% | FGA | FG% | eFG% | eFG% |
| Walker Kessler | 414 | 72.0% | 72.1% | 81 | 54.3% | 55.6% | -16.5% |
| Jonathan Kuminga | 497 | 52.5% | 57.9% | 153 | 43.8% | 46.1% | -11.9% |
| Keegan Murray | 782 | 45.3% | 58.4% | 164 | 39.0% | 47.3% | -11.2% |
| Jaren Jackson Jr. | 822 | 50.6% | 56.7% | 266 | 41.4% | 45.9% | -10.8% |
| Shake Milton | 503 | 47.9% | 53.5% | 82 | 37.8% | 42.7% | -10.8% |
| Mitchell Robinson | 280 | 67.1% | 67.1% | 83 | 56.6% | 56.6% | -10.5% |
| Keita Bates-Diop | 465 | 50.8% | 56.8% | 77 | 41.6% | 46.8% | -10.0% |
| Malcolm Brogdon | 732 | 48.4% | 57.4% | 194 | 41.2% | 47.4% | -10.0% |
| Shaedon Sharpe | 648 | 47.2% | 55.1% | 248 | 39.1% | 45.2% | -9.9% |
| Austin Reaves | 490 | 52.9% | 61.6% | 195 | 45.6% | 51.8% | -9.8% |
eFG% = (FGM + (0.5 * 3PM)) / FGA
Minimum 200 FGA in 2022-23 and 75 FGA in 2023-24
Through Nov. 29, 2023
- For Walker Kessler, one of three second-year players on this list, shooting some 3s from the corners (where he’s 2-for-9) hasn’t worked out. But he also hasn’t finished nearly as well in the paint (59%) as he did as a rookie (73%).
- After a promising preseason (effective field goal percentage of 63.3%), Jonathan Kuminga is one of a few Warriors who’ve had disappointing starts. Andrew Wiggins (-8.5%) and Klay Thompson (-4.7%) have also seen significant drops.
- Jaren Jackson Jr. and Malcolm Brogdon are examples of players who aren’t playing alongside star teammates as much as they were last season.
- Shaedon Sharpe has actually taken a greater percentage of his shots in the paint, but has shot just 43% in the paint, down from 61% (a great number for a rookie guard) last season.
- After seeing a significant jump in effective field goal percentage last season, Austin Reaves has dropped below his mark from his rookie season. He’s seen big drops in both his field goal percentage in the paint (from 68% to 60%) and his effective field goal percentage on shots from outside the paint (from 57% to 46%). A jump in the percentage of shots that have come from mid-range (from 11% to 19%) is partially to blame for the latter.
* * *
John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery.
