Luka's elite shot creation has led to 40(!) open threes each game

Everyone knows how much JJ Redick loves threes, and how much he wanted the Lakers to shoot more. And as LeBron eloquently put it: for teams that don’t shoot enough threes, “the math just ain’t mathing.” Which is why it was so interesting to me that even JJ could not substantially increase the team’s three point volume. Prior to Luka’s first game, the Lakers only shot 2.4 more three point attempts than last year, while league average increased by the same amount, leaving the Lakers in 27th in 3 point volume. 

And then, Luka happened, and JJ’s dreams came true. As people have noted, since Luka’s first game as a Laker, they’ve been averaging 42.4 3PA per game, good for 4th in the league during that span. So why is this happening? It’s not just because Luka shoots pull-up threes at a high volume. Luka’s ability to create for his teammates and find open shooters is otherworldly. He drives-and-passes the ball more than James + Reaves combined (pre trade), and he leads the league in assists off of drives since joining the Lakers. Most importantly, his teammates are more wide open than they’ve ever been. In the ten games they’ve had with Luka, the Lakers have received 39.6 open or wide open 3s per game, nearly 10 more than they were getting pre-Luka (30.4). 

In conclusion, thank you Nico!