The San Antonio Spurs’ offseason is in full swing, and preparations are no doubt already being made for weeks down the line. The 2024 NBA Draft is less than a month away, with the free agency period beginning soon after. The Spurs know that time is of the essence when it comes to building a good team around Victor Wembanyama.
As such, the front office is of course doing its due diligence on draft prospects that would work around their franchise player, as well as carefully analyzing the free agent market to determine the best fits to pursue. One significant skill San Antonio will want to add more of to its roster is three-point shooting.
Last season, the Spurs ranked 28th in the association with a 34.7% mark from outside as a team. Adding good shooters will be of vital importance to helping this team take a step up. We looked at five strong three-point shooters that are set to hit free agency this summer, and ranked them by their career percentages from behind the arc.
5. Malik Monk – 35.5%
First up is the dead-eye shooter from the Sacramento Kings, Malik Monk. Coming in with just a 35.5% mark from three-point territory, Monk is the lowest on our list but still a valuable shooter. Beginning his career in Charlotte, Malik has been a bit of a late bloomer during his time in the NBA.
After the Hornets declined to extend him a qualifying offer in 2021, Monk signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he had what was essentially a career-saving season. After putting up 13.8 points per game on a career-high 47% from the field, he was due for a payday the Lakers could not afford.
As a result, he inked a multi-year deal with the Kings, where he has since had the two best seasons of his career. Finishing top five in Sixth Man of the Year voting the last two years, Monk has developed into one of the best reserve guards in the association. He could be pried from Sacramento for the right price.
4. Malik Beasley – 38.5%
Ranking three percentage points above Monk is Malik Beasley, who is known as much more of a three-point specialist. A career journeyman, Beasley began his time in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets during the 2016-17 season. Like most rookies, his playing time was scarce, but he showed quickly that he has a knockdown outside stroke and can help any team with his sharpshooting ability.
Playing alongside Nikola Jokic, Beasley found quick and easy open shots thanks to the passing prowess of the Joker. He remained in Denver until midway through the 2019-20 season when he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was there that his scoring power truly began to shine as he was promoted to the starting lineup. Over the next season and a half, Beas put up close to 20 points per game on excellent shooting splits.
When he was traded from Minnesota in the Rudy Gobert deal, Malik ended up on four separate teams over the course of just over one calendar year. But do not let that fool you. Beasley is still one of the most valuable spot-up three-point shooters in the NBA. His 41.3% mark on 6.9 attempts per game this past season was a career-high.
3. Gary Trent Jr. – 38.6%
The next inclusion on our list, Gary Trent Jr. meets the bare minimum requirements to rank above Malik Beasley with just a 0.1% percent higher career three-point shooting mark. Coming from a bloodline of high-level athletes, many older NBA fans remember Gary Trent Sr., who incredibly also began his professional career playing for the Portland Trail Blazers and Toronto Raptors, just like his son eventually would.
Trent Jr. is a prolific shooter who is perhaps not having his talents totally realized in Toronto at the moment. Playing with the Raptors since 2021, Gary saw his best NBA season with the franchise in 2021-22 when he averaged career-highs of 18.3 points per game while playing 35.0 minutes a night. Beginning his professional tenure playing alongside and learning from Damian Lillard in Portland, Trent has had a solid foundation from day one.
His numbers have fallen off a bit in the last two seasons due to a changing role on the team. Perhaps the most logical next step for him is to get him on a team with winning potential and next to a player that can maximize his output. With the attention Victor Wembanyama will continue to command, he could free up a lot of open shots for Trent.
2. Buddy Hield – 40%
A more expensive free agent option, Buddy Hield earned $23.5 million with the Philadelphia 76ers this past season. However, every single penny of it was well-earned. Buddy is a seasoned vet at this point in his pro tenure, entering his 10th season in the association next year. For his career, he is good for 15 points and 4.2 rebounds per night while shooting a dead even 40% from three.
Entering the NBA at 24 years old, Hield had a bit of a natural advantage over his peers from the start. With so many prospects beginning in the NBA at age 19 or 20, he had a leg up on his competitors from a development standpoint. As such, he has had a very consistent career, never averaging below 10 points per game for a season and never shooting below 36% from three-point range.
He will command a considerable payday for his services, but the Spurs will want to at least consider signing the sharpshooter. Buddy’s ability to erupt for 30 points like he did against the Raptors this past season makes him more than just a reliable role player, and he could be a solid fit next to Wembanyama.
1. Klay Thompson – 41.3%
Undoubtedly the most intriguing name on this list, it would have once been unthinkable for Klay Thompson to finish out his career anywhere other than The Bay. But after the events of the last five years, we are potentially just a few weeks away from that becoming a reality. One half of the legendary “Splash Brothers,” Klay and Stephen Curry became known as the greatest shooting backcourt of all-time in the 2010’s.
But following some devastating injuries, Thompson does not look exactly like the player he once was. Make no mistake about it, he is still one of the better perimeter shooters in the association. But back-to-back Achilles and ACL injuries will have some significant effects on any professional athlete. Missing the entire 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons was a major shift in Klay’s career, and he has been adjusting ever since his return in January 2022.
We can call it what it is: Steph Curry, at his best, is probably still somewhere in the range of a top-five player on earth. But at age 36, he is not getting any better. If Klay is open to signing elsewhere and writing his own chapter to finish his career, what better fit than with the possible best player of the next generation?
