Kings rookie Nik Stauskas spent two seasons at Michigan before declaring for the 2014 NBA Draft. He shot better than 44 percent in both those campaigns, and the Kings expect him to make an impact from beyond the arc after they finished 27th in the league in three-point shooting percentage last season. A recent video of Stauskas training this summer should make Sac-town fans happy and could even mean he gets a nod for the three-point shootout in February.
Yesterday, Stauskas uploaded the below video showing him taking three-pointers around the full NBA arc. Unlike the three-point shootout, he only takes three shots in each location, with two rebounders sending the ball back, which can sometimes make it easier for a shooter since he’s catching and shooting it in rhythm, rather than taking the balls off the rack like in the shootout. Still, this is pretty impressive because he doesn’t miss a single shot and barely hits anything by nylon on most of them.
During summer league play, Stauskas was 11-of-23 from deep (47.8 percent), while his Kings team captured the Summer League championship. Here he is talking about starting his NBA career off on the right track with a title in Vegas.
As summer league proved, the 6-6 Stauskas can handle the three foot difference between the college 3-point line and the NBA 3-point arc (it’s only a foot difference in the corners).
While this is just training and it’s lightyears from the hectic flow and speed of an actual NBA game, Kings fans should rejoice. They’ve got a shooter, not named Jimmer, who might be able to alleviate the offensive burden on Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins next season while making a case for an invite to New York over all-star weekend for the three-point shootout.
(video via StauskasBasketball)
Will Stauskas get an invite to the three-point shootout next season?
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