The Whiteboard: Bryn Forbes has become the San Antonio Spurs best shooter
By Ti Windisch
Third-year guard Bryn Forbes has become one of the best shooters in the NBA while occupying a bigger role on the San Antonio Spurs.
Bryn Forbes is one of those classic San Antonio Spurs come-out-of-nowhere players. Forbes went undrafted in 2016 after a four-year collegiate career that saw him spend the first half at Cleveland State and the second half at Michigan State, and his NBA career started quietly.
Forbes barely played his first year, averaging less than three points per game and shooting under 40 percent from the field. He improved a bit in year two and shot 39 percent from 3-point range, although he was scoring less than 7 points per game for San Antonio.
As young players do in the Spurs system, Forbes continued to grow. Flash forward to this year and he’s third in San Antonio’s rotation behind just DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge, and shooting 42.0 percent from 3-point range on a team-high 4.9 attempted 3-pointers per game. Forbes is fourth on the Spurs in scoring, putting up an efficient 12.1 points per game.
Marco Belinelli is also shooting 4.9 triples per game, although he’s only cashing in on 37.1 percent of his attempts. Forbes is the only Spur to attempt at least four 3-pointers per game and make 40 percent or better of his looks, and one of just 18 players in the NBA to do so this year.
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San Antonio, due to its two best players being mid-range mavens, is near the bottom of the NBA in attempted 3’s per game. Still the Spurs are better than any other team when it comes to 3-point percentage. A huge part of that reason is Bryn Forbes, who has yet to miss a game this season.
DeRozan and Aldridge run the Spurs’ offense, which is currently in the 10 top in the NBA despite their less-than-modern shot selection. Those two wouldn’t be able to lead San Antonio to that offensive success were it not for shooters like Forbes, who the Spurs literally plucked out of free agency and developed into an elite shooter.
Even if San Antonio is without a generational talent like Kawhi Leonard or Tim Duncan, the Spurs have stayed relevant and competitive thanks to their ability to develop young talent. Don’t take Gregg Popovich and RC Buford for granted, even if San Antonio ends up missing out on the postseason this year.
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