Nylon Calculus: Expect LeBron to ramp up Lakers’ corner 3 production

When LeBron decided to grace Los Angeles with his presence this past free agency, many wondered if he could wipe away some of the problems the Lakers had last season. In fact, many became worried for LeBron, as it seemed like the Los Angeles Lakers responded to James’ arrival by adding other players who could exacerbate those problems.

The Lakers front office signed a bunch of free agents alongside James that doesn’t really fit the modus operandi of the typical LeBron offense. While that’s the unfortunate reality that rests on the shoulders of the King, maybe not all is quite lost. We’ll soon find out if the Lakers can shoot from deep effectively with LeBron at the helm, but I decided to look at past LeBron teammates to see how they fared with and without him from arguably the best shot in basketball, the corner 3.

The journey through time on this issue with the King was a pretty interesting one. His command of the ball in the middle of the floor sends his teammates to the wings, waiting for the chance at an open 3. Zach Lowe points out, in fact, that LeBron James is the best generator of corner 3s ever. If he’s not putting some random player on a poster, James drops a slick dime, easy.

What should the Los Angeles Lakers expect? They shouldn’t necessarily expect increased field goal percentages, nor should they expect to shoot up the ranks of top 3-point shooting teams in the NBA. What they will expect is a higher concentration of 3s to be shot from the corner. Whether the likes of Lonzo Ball, Rajon Rondo, or Lance Stephenson (yeesh) will be ready to convert these passes doesn’t really matter. The dimes are coming whether Los Angeles is ready for it or not. Maybe that’s a little unfair for two of those guys listed above, as we’ll soon see they’re alright from that spot on the floor.

The following players had all attempted at least one 3-pointer per game and had played with LeBron in at least fifty games. Lastly, their percentages and rates without LeBron are cumulative career averages.

LeBron’s first Cleveland go-round

We know that LeBron came into the league as a wrecking ball in the lane, but it’s still interesting to see how he influenced his teammates’ 3-point shot type at a time when the league wasn’t yet obsessed with the 3. Above, you’ll see some of the more successful players during LeBron’s first stint in Cleveland finding success when getting more 3s from the corner when playing with LeBron.

Players like Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams had over a third of their 3-point attempts come from the corner with LeBron, and without him, they both took a little less than a fifth of their attempts from the corner.

Both Anthony Parker and Donyell Marshall came to play with LeBron fully knowing to essentially never leave the corner. Parker and Marshall attempted close to two-thirds of their attempts from deep in the corner. All four players mentioned above greatly improved their percentage from the corner.

Before I forget, and this is really important when thinking about the upcoming Lakers, is that it’s technically possible to drastically improve. Case in point, do you remember Jeff McInnis? He was by no means a deep artist, but he greatly improved from the corner.

LeBron with a new three in South Beach

LeBron got better help when arriving in Miami. You’ll notice in his first go-round with the Cavaliers that most of the players he had to work with started to shoot just 35 percent from the corner spot. You’ll notice in the rest of these graphs, that percentages from the corner aren’t going to change all that much.

The most interesting names to focus on here are Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller, and Ray Allen. All were elite 3-point shooters, and all were made to shift their games around the corner shot. Mike Miller found most comfort operating off the wing, but nonetheless, he saw a huge jump in attempts from the corner.

Rashard Lewis was already on the decline when he arrived in South Beach, which was a perfect situation for him and LBJ. He was already a near elite corner 3-point shooter and could have opened up a sunglass hut on the corner of the American Airlines Arena.

I included two slots for Chris Bosh, and it just points to how he had to change his game in his second year playing with LBJ. He didn’t attempt that many 3s from the corner in Toronto or his first year in Miami. The team definitely made the point to push Bosh out to the perimeter in that second year to take advantage of his decent conversion rate.

LBJ’s new teammates can’t convert in CLE pt. 2

As you can imagine, LeBron (and the Cleveland front office, of course) really gunned for players who could convert forty percent of their corner 3 attempts. However, just like his first stint in Cleveland, his teammates didn’t improve percentage wise from the corner.

This past season, nine of LeBron’s teammates performed worse from the corner than their career averages without LeBron. In his first stint, he’d suffered a similar fate. With the Miami Heat, only two players shot worse from the corner than in their years without LeBron.

Most of these players were chastised like Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert, or Jae Crowder. It’s understandable for Shumpert or Crowder to receive blame, but Love still shot relatively well from that spot. It’ll be interesting to see if we’ll see Kevin Love attempt a 3 from the corner at all next year.

LeBron spells hope for Los Angeles

*Potential above with LBJ just the average percentage change from all previous stints.

That brings us to the brand new Los Angeles Lakers, and you’ll notice from the chart above that they’re not going to be that atrocious from the corner spot after all. Again, LeBron will be playing with players who can already knock down that shot from the floor, and I’m sure his new teammates are hoping LeBron still has the gas left in the tank to draw defenders away.

Still thinking about Jeff McInnis? Well, that’s great, because if either he or Jawad Williams can improve a corner 3-point shot, Lonzo Ball can as well. Even with the rest of these guys, it’s not so much that LeBron will have to share the ball with Stephenson, Rondo, or Ball. LBJ’s new teammates just have to sink alongside his drives and get ready to nail a trey. It’s disingenuous to trash the team for an extreme lack of shooters. As we’ve seen from other LeBron stints, most guys don’t really fall off, and in fact, they improve a little bit while also getting a ton more clean looks. The Lakers might be just fine from deep, and the corner shot is the ultimate answer of their potential to become elite.

Broad overview

The Lakers might not be the worst 3-point shooting situation after all. Should the current band of Lakers improve along the lines of those who played with LBJ in Miami, then the Lakers could end up being just as good as the Cavs from LBJ’s most recent stint.

We must remember that the drive-and-kick is the bread and butter of the LeBron James offense and it shouldn’t change any time soon. He’s so good at dishing to the corner, one can say that he’s probably touched the ceiling on what’s really possible with the corner 3-point shot anyways.