Ty Jerome's Shaky 3-point Shot Comes and Goes as His Role Changes
Ty Jerome’s position on the Oklahoma City roster is a conundrum.
He missed the end of last season due to a sports hernia surgery. The lack of playing last season could come to hurt him when Sam Presti and the staff work to finalize the roster for this season.
Jerome is now entering his fourth season in a career that can best be described as shaky. He’s struggled to maintain a role with the organization and he’s struggled to maintain consistent lines on both sides of the floor.
This biggest fluctuating piece of his stat lines have been his 3-point percentage.
His rookie season, with the Suns, Jerome shot a less than stellar 28% from beyond the arc. His second season, his first with OKC, Jerome’s line skyrocketed to 42.3% on nearly four times the volume of shots. Then last season Jerome’s shooting again took a violent dip. When he ended his season with his injury, his 3-point percentage was down to 29%.
Based on both percentages at his shot volume, Jerome’s percentage drastically rises when he shoots more and holds a bigger role with the team. In his second season, Jerome was shooting 5.1 shots from beyond the arc and shot over 40%.
His other two seasons he shot 1.6 and 3.9 shots from beyond the arc per game and shot under 30% from 3-point range in each of those seasons. In 2020-21, Jerome played 23.9 minutes per game and had his best season of his career in all aspects.
Jerome was able to find a consistent groove based on his consistent role, which helped him and the Thunder’s shooting ability. However, when his role fluctuates and keeps changing, his shooting takes the brunt of the impact in a negative sense.
Jerome is fighting for his roster spot first, and then he’ll have to fight for a consistent larger role in order to find a consistent shot, which would benefit the Thunder who struggled last season beyond the arc.
Jerome’s shot is there. He’s shown the flashes. Now, it’s time for him to earn the time to showcase the shot.
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