Washington Wizards: 3 Goals for Thomas Bryant
By Ethan Smith
Make 1+ Three-Point Field Goal per Game
Bryant was pretty impressive as a scorer last season. Bryant averaged 61.6 percent from the field, setting franchise-best marks for single-season field goal percentage, two-point percentage, effective field goal percentage, and offensive rating. His true shooting percentage (64.7 percent) has only ever been bested by Tim Legler‘s 68.8 percent during the Bullets’ 1995-96 season.
After struggling to get minutes early in the season, Thomas Bryant was great for the Wizards. Finishes the season with best single-season fg%, 2p%, efg%, and ORtg in franchise history. Second-best ts% (per @bball_ref) pic.twitter.com/MbCVxeH8yQ
— Wiz of Awes (@WizOfAwes) April 10, 2019
But Bryant wasn’t only doing things around the rim as the numbers might suggest. In fact, Bryant shot 1.4 threes per game and made them at a decent rate: 33.3 percent. Last season, Bryant was the only center to average over 60 percent from the field and over 30 percent from deep with at least one three-point attempt per game.
If Bryant can continue to develop his outside range and become a consistent threat from behind the arc, he could add an exciting and hard-to-stop wrinkle to the Wizards’ offense. Not only would it give the Wizards an additional “reliable” shooter on the floor, but it would also create a lot more space around the hoop if Bryant can start pulling rim protectors out to the perimeter. That should help Bradley Beal, Isaiah Thomas, and eventually John Wall to get to the basket with ease without having to fight through an additional seven-footer.