Does Kevin Durant Need to Shoot More?

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns have been notorious for their mid-range prowess in recent years, though the modern game appears to finally be making its way to the desert thanks to some strong three-point shooting from some of their best.

Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes recently devised a list of players who should increase (and decrease) their three-point volume a quarter into the season.

Two Suns players made the cut of ten players in Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic.

Nurkic fell under the "needs to chill" banner, with Hughes going on to explain the inclusion:

"The Phoenix Suns have been big on mid-rangers for years. They ranked first in attempt frequency in each of the past two seasons and sit in fourth place through a quarter of 2023-24. The notion that jump-shooting teams can't win at the highest levels is laughable now, but it's also true that great teams need to get a decent share of their points at the rim.

"This seems like a good time to mention that Suns starting center Jusuf Nurkić's shot profile is heavier on threes and lower on close-range looks than ever. A remarkable 25.7 percent of his attempts have come from beyond the arc this season, a rate roughly four times above his career average. Relatedly, just 43.5 percent of Nurk's shots come from inside three feet. That's a career low.

"Even if Nurkić's struggles to finish inside (55.0 percent at the rim ranks in the fifth percentile among bigs), somebody has to balance out the Suns' affinity for jumpers by making a layup once in a while. It doesn't seem unfair to charge the center with that responsibility. But instead of working at close range in what's usually a well-spaced floor with clear paint, Nurkić is venturing further from the bucket.

"The results haven't been great. Nurkic is hitting only 27.1 percent of his triples and is on pace to blow past 2022-23's career-high three-point attempt rate. Not everyone is cut out to be a stretch 5."

The reasoning behind including Nurkic is very grounded and realistic - not every big man is cut out to be a true floor-spacer.

While Nurkic has shown flashes of being a decent floor spacer, the consistency just isn't there, and he's best suited as either a screen-and-roll man or a secondary initiator on the high block.

Booker, Durant, Gordon, Allen, and even a player such as Little should be getting more three-point volume than the Bosnian Beast.

Durant coincidentally makes the cut of a player who needs more volume from deep.

Wright once again makes a very grounded case for why Durant should have a higher volume of attempts from deep, breaking it down in a well-thought out passage:

"Considering we already suggested Jusuf Nurkić should cool it from deep, maybe the best way forward is to reapportion those shots to his teammate, Kevin Durant*. That's called being solution-oriented, folks.

"Far be it from us to tell one of the greatest scorers in league history how to get his buckets, but it's at least worth pointing out that KD is currently the league's most accurate three-point shooter among those who've gotten up at least 75 triples. He's a scorching 45-of-93 so far, good for a 48.4 percent knockdown rate.

"The long ball has never been Durant's defining feature on offense. He's a complete three-level scorer who can get to his spot and rise over virtually anyone. Part of the reason he's always taken fewer threes than it seemed like he should is because he's so preposterously accurate from everywhere else—particularly on two-point jumpers. Coming into this season, Durant's accuracy on mid-rangers has only been below the 91st percentile once since 2011-12.

"Here's the thing, though: Durant is only in the 59th percentile on mid-range accuracy this year, which is the first small indicator that maybe he should take a step or two back in search of that extra point. It's also interesting to note that, despite rougher shooting (for him) from inside the arc and elite marksmanship from beyond it, KD is taking his lowest share of shots from long range since he was a first-time All-Star with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009-10.

"If Durant is shooting the ball, it's a good look by definition. But he's leaving money on the table by passing up threes when he's burying them almost half of the time."

Logic would say that less Nurkic volume could be redistributed into Durant volume, and the Slim Reaper could benefit more than anyone with an uptick in volume.

Durant has taken a step back as a mid-range scorer this season and still doesn't attack the rim at a huge rate, so it only makes sense that the second-best three point shooter this season based on percentages should be taking more from behind the arc.

The Suns could use more volume from Durant as well: Phoenix ranks 23rd in three-point attempts per game.

A team that possesses shooting talent such as Durant and Eric Gordon shouldn't have to worry about lack of volume from three-point range.

The Suns are set to play the Portland Trail Blazers tonight. The game is set to tip off shortly after 8 PM Arizona time.