Milwaukee Bucks: Can Pat Connaughton improve his shooting efficiency?

Based on the role he’s projected to serve for the upcoming season, the Milwaukee Bucks will be relying on new wing Pat Connaughton to refine his three-point shooting prowess.

Of the many personnel changes the Milwaukee Bucks went through this offseason, adding capable shooters and floor spacers was a key and prevalent theme in the draft and this year’s free agency.

That hardly came as a surprise, considering the strengths of players at the top end of their roster, such as superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Eric Bledsoe, are well suited to playing with a more open and clean floor than had been customary over the course of last season.

The presence of new hew coach Mike Budenholzer is sure to have an effect on this as he has preached plenty about bringing the Bucks into the modern age when it comes to how he’ll look to revamp their offensive stylings since being implemented in mid-May.

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As a result, it all adds up as to why the Bucks took a flier on 25-year-old budding sharpshooter Pat Connaughton in late July.

Having spent his first three years in the league with the Portland Trail Blazers, Connaughton comes to Milwaukee with some untapped role playing potential.

Carving out a steady, meaningful role within the rotation of a 48-win team like the Blazers were last season displayed what Connaughton can provide after largely toiling at the end of the bench during his first two years.

And over the course of the offseason, we’ve explored various avenues where the Massachsetts native might make an impact on his new NBA home beyond being a reliable cog within the Bucks’ system.

But make no mistake, the extent to how successful Connaughton’s stint in Milwaukee could be this season and possibly beyond, given the second year in his deal with the Bucks is non-guaranteed, will likely hinge on how well he fares from downtown offensively.

To that end, Connaughton has been a respectable contributor on that front as he stands as a career 36.4 percent three-point shooter. However, it should be noted that of the 264 three-point attempts he’s taken in his career, Coannughton launched 210 of them last year and knocked down those looks at a merely serviceable clip (35.2 percent).

There’s nothing to suggest there’s nagging issues that Connaughton has to iron out in his shooting mechanics as the Notre Dame alum comes in as a 84.5 percent shooter from the charity stripe. Still, the issues with consistency are a very valid concern and the fact that it came during Connaughton’s most featured season of his career adds to how much room he has to grow to be an even greater threat in that area.

There’s no question the ways in which Connaughton can pose as a viable three-point marksman can give this Bucks team a different wrinkle that they didn’t have in their incumbent backcourt options.

Connaughton is already experienced with having to act as an effective floor spacer as he did alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum over the last three seasons in the Pacific Northwest. Those duties won’t change now that he’ll be sharing the floor with at least one of Antetokounmpo, Bledsoe and the well-rounded Khris Middleton.

That’s an especially important factor to consider because of the gravity that all three provide for the supporting cast, Antetokounmpo being the crowning example of this.

On that front, Connaughton will look to rebound in burying wide open looks from three next season as he’s coming off a campaign in which he hit 27 of 90 three-point attempts (30 percent) that were free of an opposing defender in his shooting space, per NBA.com/stats.

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Whether he’ll improve on that aspect and his overall three-point services remains to be seen and luckily, less than a month stands in the way of us seeing Connaughton in regular season action while wearing a Bucks uniform.

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