The Brooklyn Nets could be the best three-point shooting team in the NBA next season

With the perimeter shot being a focal point of many offenses throughout the league, where does this new-look Brooklyn Nets roster rank amongst the best shooting teams in the association?

The three-point shot is as imperative to an organization’s success as it’s ever been; never have we seen such a high quantity of makes/attempts from beyond the perimeter. So with that being said, how does this new-look Brooklyn Nets roster compare to the elite shooting teams the NBA has to offer?

Well, let me first provide a little perspective into how much the league has altered in just five seasons.

In the 2013/14 season, the Houston Rockets led the entire NBA in three-point makes with 9.5 per contest. Now, with the 2018/19 season concluded, one half of the previous statement has remained constant. Though the Rockets once again finished first in the NBA in three-point makes, they did so by connecting on a much higher 16.1 three-point field goals per contest—a percentage increase of 69.4 percent from five years prior.

There wasn’t a team in the NBA that connected on more than 10.0 three-point field goals per game from just five years ago; last season all but five teams connected on at least 10.0 makes or more from distance. Twelve played connected on more than 200 three-point field goals last year, only five achieved that mark but five seasons ago.

I want to paint a picture here, the three-point revolution has taken over the NBA. Teams have gotten smaller and play with a faster pace while hoisting up as many threes as they possibly can; no team in the bottom-ten of three-point makes from a season ago made it outside of the first round of the playoffs.

But here’s the good news: the Brooklyn Nets should be amongst the elite perimeter shooting teams this upcoming season.

They lost their best volume three-point shooter in D’Angelo Russell, who connected on a career-high 234 three-point field goals and was a major factor in the Nets finishing fifth in the league in three-point makes as a team last year. However, his departure does not mean the same level of success from beyond the arc isn’t replicable or can’t even be one-upped in the following campaign.

The Brooklyn Nets could potentially put out three elite marksmen on the court to start games out for them in Kyrie Irving, Taurean Prince, and Joe Harris. Last year those three players combined for 480 three-point field goals on 1,135 attempts—which was good for 42.2 percent shooting.

Only four teams attempted more three-point shots than the Nets a season ago (36.2) and though they lost their best volume shooter beyond the perimeter—they still should be amongst the more “gung-ho” teams from three-point land. Their rotation is filled with guys even outside the aforementioned three players that can knock down the long ball.

With DeAndre Jordan and Jarrett Allen always having to be accounted for due to their status’ as elite roll men in pick and roll sets (DJ 1.35 PPP in pick and rolls, JA 1.17), the floor opens up to perimeter players with opposing defenses scrambling to guard this look.

The Nets of recent memory have run a primarily motion-spread offense which predicates heavily on their effectiveness to move the basketball and when executed well generates plenty of catch and shoot opportunities from the perimeter—in which they have two of the NBA’s best in Joe Harris and Taurean Prince.

Likewise, Kyrie Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie‘s ability to break defenses down on dribble-drive penetrations will create plenty of kick out opportunities for guys ready to hoist in open space. This is a team that won’t live and die by the perimeter jump shot but will rely on being efficient in their provided looks.

It’s a tall task to trump the resident shooting champs, the Houston Rockets, in overall three-point field goals connected on but they should hover around the NBA’s elite from beyond the arc next season as they did last in terms of efficiency. They possess a very intriguing offensive dynamic that won’t shy away from the perimeter; they should be a lot of fun to watch.