playa-hater wrote:Well defense is his calling card. So he still can use that to get/keep teams interested. But in the 1990s he would have been valued more IMO., This ERA is so 3 point happy and Springer doesn't have enough sample size of being a trusted shooter/offensive player yet. Problem is, I think it is so hard to play occasionally or not at all and build/prove to be a shooter. Nesmith, PP and even Hauser went through that and they were always skillful shooters.
Point I am trying to make is the NBA is so talented that Fringe players sometimes never truly get a chance. Springer has a tough road ahead wherever he ends up.
Let's remember that Springer is still very young. Every real NBA game he's played in was before his 22nd birthday, when many players are still in college.
I'd also say that comparing him to guys like Nesmith, Pritchard and Hauser isn't very useful since those guys are all shooters. Each of them get most of their value from 3 pt shooting, so their 3 ball *needs* to fall. But a guy like Springer is able to provide a lot of value from things other than 3 pt shooting (defense, hustle, energy, rebounding, cutting, transition offense, etc.) so his 3 ball doesn't necessarily *need* to be great all the time.
Also, guys (like Springer, like Herb Jones, etc.) who don't come into the league as shooters, typically need a little bit more time and development to improve that area of their game..especially if they're a guy (like Springer) who came into the league at such a young age.
Now, one player who comes to mind who is kind of like Springer (young...on a good team, really good defender but limited on offense, limited as a shooter) is Peyton Watson. He has yet to shoot the 3 ball well in the NBA, but was still able to carve out a role last season as a solid rotational player for one of the best teams in the league - he did by being a really good wing defender, being active on the boards, scoring in transition and providing hustle/energy.
Let's take a look at Watson and some other players who are really good defenders but didn't start off their careers as good 3 pt shooters:
Peyton Watson: G league at age 20, 29% at age 21. This season he'll be 22
Dyson Daniels: 31% at age 19, 31% at age 20, this season will be 21
Jalen Suggs: 21% at age 20, 32% at age 21, 39% at age 22
Miles McBride: 25% at age 21, 29% at age 22, 41% at age 23
Herb Jones: 33% at age 23, 33% at age 24, 41% at age 25
Jalen Johnson: 23% at age 20, 28% at age 21, 35% at age 22
Deanthony Melton: 30% at age 20, 28% at age 21, 41% at age 22
Jose Alvarado: 29% at age 23, 33% at age 24, 37% at age 25
Davion Mitchell: 31% at age 23, 32% at age 24, 36% at age 25
Gary Payton II: entered league at age 24, was stuck in G league for awhile, then shot poorly from 3 till 35% at age 29
Nickeil Walker-Alexander: 1st 3 seasons (age 21-23) was combined 32.8%. Then 38.4% at age 24, 39.1% at age 25
Kris Dunn: 28% at age 22, 32% at age 23, 35% at age 24. Last season 36.9% at age 29
Gabe Vincent: G league at age 23, 30% at age 24, 36% at age 25
Delon Wright: G league at age 23, 33% at age 24, 36% at age 25
Avery Bradley: G league at age 20, 40% at age 21 (but on VERY low volume), 31% at age 22, 39% at age 23
Kenrich Williams: 33% at age 24, 25% at age 25, 44% at age 26
Bruce Brown - 25% at age 22, 34% at age 23 (low volume and during COVID season), 28% at age 24, 40% at age 25
Derrick White: G league at age 23, 33% at age 24, 36% at age 25. Then the next few years was around 30-34% until 38% at age 28, 39% at age 29
Alex Caruso: 30% at age 23, 48% at age 24 (but low volume and only played 25 games), 33% (27% in playoffs) at age 25
Looking at these numbers, remember - this will be Springer's age 22 season. And these other guys listed above didn't start shooting the 3 ball well until age 22 or 23 at the earliest. I listed 18 players here and *none* of them were a good 3 pt shooter prior to their age 22 season.
Suggs and Melton made a shooting leap at age 22 (Springer is entering his age 22 season now). McBride made a shooting leap at age 23. Kenrich made a shooting leap at age 26. Vincent, Bruce Brown, Davion Mitchell, Alvarado and Herb Jones made a shooting leap at age 25. Jalen Johnson made a shooting leap at age 22. Walker-Alexander made a shooting leap at age 24. Bradley had a shooting leap at age 23.
Lastly, there's a few things that indicate Springer might have a shooting leap soon:
-9/18 from 3 (50%) if you include his 3 preseason games this year, his 1 summer league game this year, the 1 G league game he played in for us late last season and the 2 games for Boston he got decent playing time in late in the reg season, so 7 game sample size, about 2.5 attempts per game)
-Noa Dalzell tweeted a clip of Springer knocking down 10/12 (83%) on corner 3's in practice, this past March
-82% FT shooter for his NBA career
-81% FT shooter in college...
-43.5% from 3 in college
-Celtics over the past few years have had a track record of helping guys improve their 3 pt shot (Grant Williams, Derrick White, J-rich, Walsh, Tillman, Horford (wasn't much of a shooter before he got to Boston), etc.