How Dunleavy sees Klay’s departure impacting Warriors’ 3-point shooting

How Dunleavy sees Klay’s departure impacting Warriors’ 3-point shooting originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Warriors coach Steve Kerr has made 3-point shooting volume an emphasis during the NBA preseason, and his players are listening.

In three exhibition games, the Warriors have taken 48, 52 and 34 3-point attempts, respectively, good for an average of 44.6 per contest. If they continue that pace into the 2024-25 regular season, it would be an increase of nearly six per game over last season’s 38.9 average, which was the fourth most in the NBA.

General manager Mike Dunleavy is all-in on the strategy, and admitted during Friday’s NBC Sports Bay Area broadcast of the Warriors’ game against the Sacramento Kings that Klay Thompson’s offseason departure to the Dallas Mavericks will allow Golden State to spread the wealth of 3-point shots.

“There’s going to be nights where they are, and we hope there are more nights where they are than they aren’t,” Dunleavy told Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike when it was noted that there will be nights when the 3-pointers aren’t falling. “And as I said, last time I checked, the threes count more than the twos, so the more of those that we can get up, especially with the shooters we have, we want to do [that]. I would say with Klay departing, the last few years with Klay and Steph [Curry], there’s so much focus on getting them shots, and rightfully so.

“But in this scenario, with Klay out and just Steph there, let’s look for everyone now and I think that’s going to be our approach. We’ve got a bunch of guys who can get it up. And as long as they’re good shots, good rhythm and created the right way, we want to take them.”

What the Warriors are capable of was evident in Wednesday’s preseason game against the Kings, when Golden State made 28 3-pointers, which would have been a single-game franchise record, had it been a regular-season contest.

When Dunleavy entered the NBA as the No. 3 overall pick by the Warriors in the 2002 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics led the NBA with 26.3 3-point attempts per game. By the time he retired in 2017, the James Harden-led Houston Rockets paced…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/dunleavy-sees-klays-departure-impacting-180215035.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-10-13 18:10:12

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.