The Whiteboard: Non-shooters will stand out in the NBA this season

More NBA players are adding 3-point shots to their skill sets, meaning the non-shooters are going to be noticeable.

Sometimes, NBA players stand out because of things they do that other players do not. When Steph Curry absolutely cooks some poor defender and drops in a 3 that just shouldn’t be possible, it’s noticeable.

The inverse can be true as well. Players who can’t do something that most of their peers can stand out. Increasingly over the last few seasons, the something in question has been 3-point shooting. If Game 1 of the 2018-19 NBA season is any indication, there will be fewer non-shooters than ever in the Association.

Every single Boston Celtic to play more than five minutes on Tuesday night took at least one 3, and all of those players except Al Horford made at least one. Aron Baynes, who made four 3-pointers total across his six-year career until Tuesday, made two 3s in that game alone.

Marcus Smart is a career sub-30 percent 3-point shooter, but he comfortably nailed 2-of-4 long-range shots against the Philadelphia 76ers. Smart likely won’t hit half of his 3s this season, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if shooting was a focus for him in the offseason and he took more shots from deep than he used to.

One game is a small sample size, but this one game is merely confirming what’s been apparent for years now. Teams want to take more 3s and generate more space, and the obvious result is more and more players being encouraged, or at least allowed, to take more 3s.

Baynes is a good example: three of his four made 3s before Tuesday night came last season, meaning he made one across five years before the 2017-18 campaign. Turns out, professional basketball players are pretty good at learning new basketball skills.

This increased focus on spacing makes the players who don’t shoot all the more glaring. The 76ers have three players who played real minutes against the Celtics without taking a single 3: Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, and Amir Johnson. Philly enjoys posting up Joel Embiid and letting him work, but their lack of spacing made life hard for Embiid. He shot 9-for-21 from the field against Boston, with an ugly five turnovers.

Players like Simmons are good enough for their non-shooting to be alleviated, but it’s still going to stick out this season. Those players who aren’t stars may have more trouble overcoming an inability to let it fly from long-range. Specialists who cannot make a shot from beyond the arc might have more trouble than ever finding minutes as the calendar hits 2019.

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