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Brian Windhorst insinuated that it would be in the best interest of the Denver Nuggets to not let point guard Russell Westbrook shoot the ball from behind the 3-point arc.
One aspect of the offensive end of the floor that Westbrook has never been particularly great at — even at his peak — is scoring the ball from outside the 3-point arc.
Westbrook is just a career 30.4 percent 3-point shooter, and he has never converted more than 34.3 percent of his shots from deep in a single season.
The 35-year-old is also on the heels of a season during which he was woefully inaccurate from 3-point range. Across 68 games and 11 starts with the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2023-24 regular season, Westbrook shot 27.3 percent from deep on 2.3 attempts per contest.
Westbrook is also one of the worst 3-point shooters to attempt a high volume of 3s of all time. His career 3-point percentage of 30.3 percent is the 17th-worst in the history of the NBA among those with 1,000-plus attempts. Former Phoenix Suns great Charles Barkley tops that list, as he shot 26.6 percent from deep for his career on 2,020 attempts.
But while Westbrook is far from the most accurate 3-point shooter ever to play in the NBA, he still seemingly has a lot to add to a team, even at his advanced age. Westbrook made his presence felt as both a rebounder and passer with the Clippers last season, considering he averaged 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. His rebounding and passing numbers become even more impressive when one considers that he played just 22.5 minutes per contest.
Westbrook also likely won’t have to look for his shot all that often now that he is a member of the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are two of the best offensive players in the league and can help even out Westbrook’s 3-point shooting woes.
Nuggets fans should be anticipating the guard’s debut with the team. Denver’s preseason slate will begin in under a month, but the Nuggets’ season opener won’t be until Oct. 24.
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