Look: Russell Westbrook is at Lakers’ facility working on his catch-and-shoot 3s
By Ian Levy
Russell Westbrook has never been a consistent outside shooter but he’ll need to hit some for the Lakers this season. It looks like he’s already working on it.
Russell Westbrook was the biggest offseason addition for the Los Angeles Lakers and there are plenty of questions about how his ball-dominant style will mesh with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. His ability and willingness to work as an off-ball shooter could play a big role in determining how this season goes for the Lakers.
To his credit, Westbrook is well aware of that fact and recently shared some video of himself in the gym working on his shot.
It’s interesting to see Westbrook practicing catch-and-shoot 3s specifically, but also ones well behind the actual 3-point line.
How important is Russell Westbrook’s 3-point shooting for the Lakers?
Westbrook is a career 30.5 percent 3-point shooter and his five career season with at least 200 attempts and a 3-point percentage under 30 percent. Teams still have to pay him at least some attention from beyond the arc though because he’s a danger to drive and giving him space to attack a closeout can be a problem. The interesting thing is the disparity between pull-up and catch-and-shoot attempts and how that might change for the Lakers.
Theoretically, Westbrook is going to have the ball in his hands far less than he has at maybe any point in his career. Over his last three seasons, he’s attempted more pull-up 3s than catch-and-shoot attempts, which is extremely rare for most players. He’s made 32.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s, and just 27.6 percent of his pull-ups. Even if he completely cuts out the pull-ups, which might be far-fetched, he’d still be a below-average shooter. But he’d be a lot better and the effect he has on the defense without the ball in his hands would be much more pronounced.
In short, it’s great to see Westbrook working on his shot. But his decision-making is going to be even more important to the Lakers this season.