In the modern NBA, shooting efficiency and statistical analytics matter more than ever before. Ideally, players will experience year-to-year improvements not only shooting the basketball, but also in other aspects of their game like defensive IQ.
The last thing coaches and front office personnel want to see is regression. Unfortunately for the following 32 NBA players, their shooting efficiency from three-point range dipped significantly in 2015-16 compared to the season prior.
As it did last week with the league’s most improved three-point snipers, PointAfter, a sports data visualization website powered by the Graphiq network, examined three-point shooting figures over the past two seasons (through April 6) to determine which players regressed most from beyond the arc. We ranked the players (with a minimum of 30 three-point attempts in each season) who saw their three-point percentage decrease most. In the event of a tie, players were ranked by their three-point percentage in 2015-16.
Interestingly, a few All-Star-caliber players — including Cleveland Cavaliers studs LeBron James and Kyrie Irving — struggled shooting the three-ball enough to find themselves on this list. Each player will be accompanied by his PointAfter shot chart for the 2015-16 season.
#32. LeBron James
2014-15 3P%: 35.4
2015-16 3P%: 29.3
Percent Regression: -6.1
#31. Solomon Hill
2014-15 3P%: 32.7
2015-16 3P%: 26.4
Percent Regression: -6.3
#30. Eric Gordon
2014-15 3P%: 44.8
2015-16 3P%: 38.4
Percent Regression: -6.4
#29. Marco Belinelli
2014-15 3P%: 37.4
2015-16 3P%: 30.6
Percent Regression: -6.8
#28. John Jenkins
2014-15 3P%: 40.4
2015-16 3P%: 33.3
Percent Regression: -7.1
#27. Archie Goodwin
2014-15 3P%: 29.3
2015-16 3P%: 22.1
Percent Regression: -7.2
#26. Jimmy Butler
2014-15 3P%: 37.8
2015-16 3P%: 30.5
Percent Regression: -7.3
#25. Chase Budinger
2014-15 3P%: 36.4
2015-16 3P%: 28.6
Percent Regression: -7.8
#24. Donatas Motiejunas
2014-15 3P%: 36.8
2015-16 3P%: 28.8
Percent Regression: -8
#23. Rasual Butler
2014-15 3P%: 38.7
2015-16 3P%: 30.6
Percent Regression: -8.1
#22. Trevor Booker
2014-15 3P%: 34.5
2015-16 3P%: 26.3
Percent Regression: -8.2
#21. Paul Pierce
2014-15 3P%: 38.9
2015-16 3P%: 30.4
Percent Regression: -8.5
#20. Danny Green
2014-15 3P%: 41.8
2015-16 3P%: 33.2
Percent Regression: -8.6
#19. Alonzo Gee
2014-15 3P%: 37.1
2015-16 3P%: 28.3
Percent Regression: -8.8
#18. Marcus Smart
2014-15 3P%: 33.5
2015-16 3P%: 24.6
Percent Regression: -8.9
#17. Jerami Grant
2014-15 3P%: 31.4
2015-16 3P%: 22.4
Percent Regression: -9
#16. Kendall Marshall
2014-15 3P%: 39.1
2015-16 3P%: 30
Percent Regression: -9.1
#15. Kyle Korver
2014-15 3P%: 49.2
2015-16 3P%: 39.9
Percent Regression: -9.3
#13. Cory Joseph
2014-15 3P%: 36.4
2015-16 3P%: 26.7
Percent Regression: -9.7
#14. Thaddeus Young
2014-15 3P%: 33
2015-16 3P%: 23.3
Percent Regression: -9.7
#12. Kyrie Irving
2014-15 3P%: 41.5
2015-16 3P%: 31.3
Percent Regression: -10.2
#11. Shabazz Muhammad
2014-15 3P%: 39.2
2015-16 3P%: 28.9
Percent Regression: -10.3
#10. Dwyane Wade
2014-15 3P%: 28.4
2015-16 3P%: 17.9
Percent Regression: -10.5
#9. Luke Babbitt
2014-15 3P%: 51.3
2015-16 3P%: 39.8
Percent Regression: -11.5
#8. Charlie Villanueva
2014-15 3P%: 37.6
2015-16 3P%: 25.6
Percent Regression: -12
#7. Kyle Singler
2014-15 3P%: 39.8
2015-16 3P%: 27.5
Percent Regression: -12.3
#6. C.J. Watson
2014-15 3P%: 40
2015-16 3P%: 27.3
Percent Regression: -12.7
#5. Rodney Stuckey
2014-15 3P%: 39
2015-16 3P%: 26
Percent Regression: -13
#4. Greivis Vasquez
2014-15 3P%: 37.9
2015-16 3P%: 23.3
Percent Regression: -14.6
#3. Amir Johnson
2014-15 3P%: 41.3
2015-16 3P%: 23.8
Percent Regression: -17.5
#2. Ryan Kelly
2014-15 3P%: 33.6
2015-16 3P%: 13.5
Percent Regression: -20.1
#1. Drew Gooden
2014-15 3P%: 39
2015-16 3P%: 17.1
Percent Regression: -21.9
Discover More NBA Player Stats and Visualizations on PointAfter