Washington Wizards: Will Davis Bertans win the three-point contest?
By Ethan Smith
The Newcomers
Duncan Robinson
Duncan Robinson may have fewer than 80 NBA games under his belt, but the Miami Heat small forward might be the dark horse to win this competition. From a purely statistical perspective, Robinson can claim to be the contest’s best shooter.
Among the eight three-point contest contestants, Robinson leads them all in three-point field goal percentage, two-point field goal percentage, effective field goal percentage, true shooting percentage, and free throw percentage. Robinson is so effective from long range that it’s almost the only shot he takes. Of his 9.1 field goal attempts per game, 8.1 come from behind the arc. That hasn’t stopped him from posting the NBA’s fourth-best effective field-goal percentage, though, per Basketball-Reference. His name is an obvious outlier on a list full of players that operate almost exclusively around the rim.
Despite Robinson averaging the fewest minutes per game among this year’s contestants, Buddy Hield is the only other shooter to make more three’s than Robinson this season.
This might be his first three-point contest appearance, but Robinson is legit and should be one to watch for.
Devonte’ Graham
Like Robinson, Devonte’ Graham is another sophomore surprise, but on a much less impressive Charlotte Hornets team. Although they aren’t winning a ton of games, the Hornets are just 18-36 at the All-Star Break, Graham’s emergence as a do-it-all scorer has Charlotte fans forgetting about Kemba Walker a lot quicker than expected.
Last season, Graham was an afterthought on the Charlotte squad. He averaged just 14.7 minutes and 4.7 points per game on some miserable shooting numbers: 34.3 percent from the field and 28.1 percent from three.
But now in the spotlight, Graham has more than tripled his scoring output and has raised his three-point shooting percentage by nearly ten points. This season, Graham leads the Hornets in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game, and has become a legitimate three-point threat. He now shoots 37.4 percent on his 9.4 three-point attempts each game.
If Graham can bring a three-point title to Charlotte this year, this season might go down as one of the more impressive coming-out parties of all time for the surprise shooting guard.