Far too often, any analysis of a player starts with some variation of “well, if he just had a jump shot, he could be something special.” There’s a reason for that, though. Boundless athleticism or a power game is valuable on a basketball court, but to be able to generate the proper spacing to run an offense in today’s NBA, players need to be able to shoot.
The above may seem like an exercise in the obvious, but it’s relevant when discussing Julius Randle and Larry Nance, Jr. For all of last season, any conversation about the games of Los Angeles’ two young power forwards centered on their jumpers.