Balance is one of the most important things when building a fantasy basketball team. Drafting scorers, rebounders, and assist men is crucial. However, efficiency can be just as important in 8 or 9-cat leagues. Shot opportunities matter, but poor percentages can drag your team down in the long run. Are you looking to build a well-rounded team? Here are five shot chuckers who could drag your shooting percentages down in 2024-25.
Jalen Green
Green only trailed Alperen Sengun in points per game (19.6) among Houston Rockets players last season, but his shooting percentages left much to be desired. The 22-year-old wing converted 42.3% of his field goal attempts and hoisted 16.2 shots per contest. No player averaging 19.0 points per game was less efficient from the field in 2023-24. Green also shot a career-low 33.2% from long range. He’s yet to demonstrate that he can efficiently make shots from beyond the arc through three NBA seasons. Green’s counting stats are solid, but you should make sure to draft players with higher shooting percentages to even things out if you choose to draft him.
Jordan Poole
Poole’s first season running his own team was a disaster. The Washington Wizards point guard posted his lowest scoring average (17.4 points per game), shooting 41.3% from the field and 32.6% from deep. He wasn’t prepared to be a full-time floor general on a lousy team, and he managed to put up 15.2 shots per game by the end of the campaign despite his team’s efforts to lessen his workload as the year went on. It doesn’t appear likely that he’ll take on a role as his team’s primary ball handler anytime soon, but fantasy managers should be wary of him, considering how much he struggled in 2023-24.
Jaden Ivey
The Detroit Pistons handed Ivey a significant role when he stepped into the NBA, but he’s yet to find a palatable shot selection. The 22-year-old combo guard has shot under 43% from the field and 35% ahead of year three. Fantasy managers would love to get solid free-throw shooting from a player averaging 13.0 shots per game for his career, but Ivey has fallen short of 75% at the charity stripe in back-to-back seasons. It’s unclear what Ivey’s role will look like now that Detroit has added so many new faces in hopes of adding shooting around Cade Cunningham, but things aren’t looking great for the Purdue product.
Jordan Clarkson
It’s not a secret that the Utah Jazz have made use of Clarkson as a scoring sparkplug off the bench in recent years. The shot-happy combo guard’s scoring average dropped to 17.6 points per game last season. He also notched career lows in field goal percentage (41.3%) and three-point percentage (29.4%). Clarkson had a down season but remains the player he’s been for a while. He’s shot less than 43% from the field in three of his previous four seasons and less than 34% from beyond the arc in three consecutive seasons. The Jazz have young point guards that they want to develop, so I won’t be surprised if Clarkson takes a step back from a shot volume standpoint in 2024-25.
Scoot Henderson
I want to give Henderson some leeway as a second-year player, but there was not much to like about his rookie year. The Portland Trail Blazers guard hoisted 12.9 shots per game but only managed to shoot 38.5% from the field and 32.5% from deep. Henderson did show some growth, though. He shot 40.8% from the field and 39.5% from three-point range through his final 15 games of 2023-24. Building on that progress could help him avoid being called a chucker moving forward, but it’s still too early to give him the benefit of the doubt.