Where does J.J. Redick rank among the NBA’s all-time greatest shooters?

The place does J.J. Redick rank among the many NBA’s biggest all-time shooters?

It is a query I discovered myself asking after the sharpshooter introduced his retirement on Tuesday following a 15-year profession that included stints with the Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, LA Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks.

Drafted eleventh total by the Magic in 2006 following a standout four-year profession at Duke the place he was a nationwide participant of the yr, two-time All-American, two-time ACC participant of the yr and four-time All-ACC choice, Redick developed into one of the crucial productive 3-point shooters in NBA historical past.

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After an uneven begin to his profession that left many questioning if Redick’s otherwordly capturing skill may make up for some ballhandling and defensive shortcomings within the NBA, Redick lastly discovered his stride in his eighth season after becoming a member of the LA Clippers. Redick’s ultra-competitive swagger match completely alongside Chris Paul and his floor-stretching wizardry opened up Lob Metropolis for Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

Redick’s profession coincided with the swift leaguewide transformation, a shift which allowed Redick to thrive in a brand new pace-and-space period. In the end, he rode that wave into the document books to the purpose the place it is a authentic dialog to marvel the place he ranks among the many all-time elite sharpshooters.

J.J. Redick’s capturing by the numbers

Let’s begin with the fundamentals.

He ranks fifteenth in all-time made 3s, just under Dirk Nowitki, LeBron James and Joe Johnson and simply forward of J.R. Smith, Chauncey Billups, Kobe Bryant and Kyle Lowry. Scan the record of names above him and you may see virtually completely a gaggle of excessive quantity first or second choices, which Redick by no means was even at his top.

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Redick additionally ranks seventeenth in 3-point subject purpose proportion, ending with a profession clip of 41.5 p.c together with an outrageous 47.5 p.c in 2015-16 when he led the NBA. Making an allowance for each quantity and effectivity, he is one in every of simply 4 gamers to rank inside the highest 20 in each makes and proportion, becoming a member of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kyle Korver.

However Redick’s capturing prowess extends far past merely recognizing up within the nook or burying catch-and-shoot 3s towards an overhelping protection.

He hit them curling off screens entering into both course. He hit them after stopping on a dime at a lifeless dash in transition. He hit them whereas catching at a lifeless dash and by no means stopping besides to sq. his toes and launch whereas falling out of bounds. He hit them them towards towering defenders after dribble hand-offs. 

At his absolute shot-making hay day, Redick made pictures that defied logic … each inside AND exterior the 3-point line. As an ode to Kobe Bryant following his retirement after the 2015-16 season, I poured via thousands and thousands of player-tracking information factors in search of the new Kobe. I needed to reply a seemingly easy query: Who was the NBA’s greatest participant at making troublesome pictures? Not merely going by fame, however leaning on information which takes into consideration if a shooter is stationary or shifting, the place their momentum is carrying them, the time on the shot clock, and the placement of the closest defenders.

Who got here out on prime? Redick. Not Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Joe Johnson, Klay Thompson or any of the opposite All-Stars usually in all these conversations.

How J.J. Redick compares with different greats

So taking all of that into consideration, the place does that depart Redick?

He is comfortably behind the large 4: Curry, Thompson, Ray Allen and Reggie Miller. I am unsure anybody may argue that.

And whereas Redick’s indubitably a superb shot maker who made large strides as a shooter off the bounce, he is nonetheless largely reliant on others, which makes him laborious to place forward of gamers like Kevin Durant, Steve Nash, Larry Chook, Dirk Nowitki and Peja Stojakovic.

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Precisely mixing quantity with effectivity when speaking shooters is like mixing oil and water. How do examine somebody like Steve Kerr — essentially the most correct marksman of all-time who feasted on a gentle weight loss plan of standing nonetheless catch-and-shoots from Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan — with somebody like Damian Lillard or James Harden, who sacrifice effectivity whereas taking them in bunches usually draped with a number of defenders.

That leaves Redick someplace in a gaggle that features the likes of Korver, Dale Ellis, Glen Rice, J.R. Smith and Kerr. Basketball-Reference’s advanced league-adjusted shooting splits are one option to stability out quantity with effectivity that additionally teases out shot choice inside the context of the period they performed in. Basically, you possibly can see how a lot a participant’s complete pictures added or subtracted relative to what a league common participant would do on those self same total makes an attempt, together with free throws. Attending to the road and changing is a useful part of contemplating your entire shooter. 

It is not excellent and it would not consider extra granular particulars like player-tracking information. But it surely’s a wiser approach of contextualizing total efficiency for a talent that has competely reworked over time to the purpose the place it’s virtually unattainable to match shooters throughout eras.

Regardless, the purpose right here is not to nerd out hardcore.

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The purpose is to present Redick his due as one of many NBA’s biggest shooters of all-time. There isn’t any extra in-demand talent than capturing, and Redick is likely one of the greatest to ever do it, a premier shot-maker extraordinaire who in some methods symbolized the game’s broader shift during the last decade.