There is a school of thought that Victor Wembanyama shoots too many jump shots considering he is the tallest player in the NBA. It’s wrong.
Sure, it is an understandable concern considering that for someone who is his size, he could easily dominate the paint and near the basket. He has a height advantage over any defender, which would make him difficult to guard at or close to the rim.
Wembanyama only shot 32.5 percent on 3-pointers as a rookie, which was far below the league average (36.6 percent) last season. However, as he develops in the NBA, he is only getting better from beyond the arc.
Admittedly, on his jumper, he had a slow start to the 2024-25 campaign. During his first nine games of the season, the big man shot just 22.6 percent from beyond the arc. It was the worst of any player who had at least 50 or more attempts in that span.
But as the old saying goes, and since then, he has turned the corner. He has made 5.1 shots from beyond the arc per game in his eight games since then, which is the most in the league.
For comparison, that is more than Stephen Curry (4.8) and LaMelo Ball (4.7) as well as everyone else in the NBA.
Wembanyama is also shooting 43.2 percent on those opportunities in that span, which is about as good as it gets for someone shooting at such a high volume.
When you have a big man who can pick and pop like Wembanyama, while also shooting in the 94th percentile on the season near the rim, there is not much opposing defenses can do to slow him down. Just look at the way that other teams try to collapse on to him to defend him on the perimeter and think of the way that impacts spacing for his teammates.
His best train remains his defensive prowess, but his 3-point shooting is a feature, not a bug. It won’t be long before the public realizes he is one of the most talented and prolific big man shooters of all time.
