After something of a mixed bag from three-point range last year, the Milwaukee Bucks will be hoping Pat Connaughton can find more consistency next season.
Pat Connaughton begins one of the most exciting weeks of his life on Monday, as he joins teammates Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez in Las Vegas to partake in USA Basketball’s mini-camp ahead of the FIBA World Cup.
Although Connaughton is only on the Select squad rather than the main roster, a slew of recent withdrawals have created opportunity for players from that category to make the jump to the main roster and compete for a spot on the plane to China.
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The prospect of Connaughton doing that would still seem quite unlikely, but that in its own right is worth exploring considering just how much value he’s capable of adding to any team.
In his first season in Milwaukee, Bucks fans learned all about Connaughton’s high-energy play, incredible athleticism, high basketball IQ and underrated defense, as the 26-year-old was a really impactful player in the rotation at multiple times across the year.
The fact remains that he wasn’t an ever present, though, and that fact is entirely attributable to his inconsistent three-point shooting.
Across 61 games, Connaughton finished the season shooting a below average 33.3 percent from behind the arc, which when his smooth, compact stroke and repeatable mechanics are considered is very underwhelming.
Connaughton looks like he should be close to a 40 percent shooter whenever he finds any kind of rhythm, but unfortunately for him that rhythm has come and gone more frequently than would be deemed ideal over the course of his career to date.
Across three years with the Portland Trail Blazers, Connaughton averaged 36.4 percent from distance, which is an improvement, but still not necessarily as efficient as the heights it would seem he should be able to reach.
A closer look at Connaughton’s shooting splits from last year illustrates the Jekyll and Hyde nature of his shooting percentages, though. In 37 games prior to the All-Star break, Connaughton made just 28.8 percent of his three-pointers, and played just 16.9 minutes per game as a result, while after the All-Star break his percentage rocketed up to 38.2 percent and his minutes followed in landing at 26.5 per game.
Similarly, Connaughton’s 35.6 percent from deep in the playoffs made for a notable improvement on his overall season average, and led to crucial minutes and a consistent role as a result.
In other words, for all of the positives he contributes across the floor, Connaughton’s impact is still undoubtedly defined by how well he’s shooting.
In this regard, there’s still a possibility that Connaughton could one day boost his overall value significantly by simply ironing out some of the ups and downs that have become a part of his shooting performance.
Considering next season is a contract year, the former Notre Dame man should have no shortage of motivation to do just that. With current events in mind, a chance to get meaningful reps and hard workouts in alongside top tier talent should also make the USA Basketball experience really worthwhile for Connaughton over the next few days.
In looking at his shot, there’s no reason to believe Connaughton couldn’t find much greater consistency with just some minor adjustments. Considering the fluidity of the Bucks’ starting shooting guard situation, there could be big rewards in wait for him if he can figure them out over the remainder of the offseason.