The New Orleans Pelicans were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA last season.
This is one of the glaring holes they had coming into the offseason, as they were 25th in the league in 3-point percentage, 25th in attempts and 27th in 3-point shots made per game.
David Griffin has completely rebuilt the roster around Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, and the Pels are now much younger, faster and hopefully better at shooting the 3-point shot.
But when you take a look at each position, it’s still not clear if the Pelicans have done enough. Here’s a breakdown of each position and whether the Pelicans got worse, stayed the same or improved their shooting.
New Orleans Pelicans: Point guards
The Pelicans will probably use a lot of guys at “point guard” this season but the truth is Zion Williamson is going to be handling the ball a lot.
This means all of the guards need to be able to play off the ball and knock down shots. The Pelicans have swapped out Lonzo Ball for Devonte’ Graham and Kira Lewis Jr. will likely back him up, though I could see the Pelicans going with a lot of 3-wing lineups this season.
Lonzo and Graham are more or less the same guy when it comes to 3-point shooting, as both shot a high volume last season and hit around 38 percent.
Kira Lewis Jr. has not yet shown that he can hit the 3-point shot consistently, so the jury is still out whether he’ll improve from his 33 percent next season. I’d say it’s a wash.
Verdict: Same