One of my favorite things to observe in the early going of any NBA campaign is whose offseason work is translating into tangible results on the floor. And no single skill is more valuable to hone over time than shooting.

Shooting is the skeleton key that unlocks the entire game–both on an individual and team level. It’s the lever that can bend a defense to its breaking point, slot into any lineup combination, and instill fear in opponents regardless of whether a player possesses the ball or not.

Particularly if you are a role player, enhancing your shooting prowess will lead to more time on the floor, more opportunity to showcase your other abilities, and more wins for your team. Kawhi Leonard is probably the most famous example of the past decade–a decidedly non-shooter as a prospect who parlayed an upgraded three-point stroke into becoming one of the very best players in the game, earning multiple NBA Finals MVP trophies along the way.

There’s a long line of guys whose stars we’ve seen dramatically rise alongside their ability to drain treys. Jrue Holiday has collected a pair of Larry O’Briens and Olympic golds since improving his accuracy from distance. His former teammate Derrick White joined him on the championship podium in Boston and has vaulted into All Star consideration since flashing a killer stroke from deep. How much money has Jerami Grant made since proving you can’t leave him open from beyond the arc? We’re witnessing a huge offensive leap in real time with Nickeil Alexander-Walker on the Hawks after he maintained consistency from behind the line with the Wolves for the past couple of seasons.

So who will be the next crop of players to pop thanks to an improved long ball? Let’s take a look at five leading candidates so far this year.

Note: All stats as of games played through December 8.

Onyeka Okongwu

We begin with NAW’s teammate in Atlanta. Okongwu came into the league as your classic rim-running big man, and only started dabbling in the dark art of three-point shooting a couple of seasons ago. Well, the spigot has now been turned fully to the ‘on’ position.

After attempting just 1.6 threes per 100 possessions over his first five campaigns, Okongwu is launching eight threes per 100 in 2025-26. His conversion rate is up from 32.2 percent prior to this season, to 35.5 percent (and it was actually a tick over 40 percent before a recent slump). It’s not just that he’s catching the ball beyond the arc and then letting fly because nobody bothered to close out–he’s hunting triples, even off of movement.

The Hawks need a spacing big to open up the floor for Jalen Johnson to rumble to the rim, especially when a non-shooter like Dyson Daniels is often sharing the floor at the same time. After treys made up only 12 percent of Okongwu’s shot diet before this season, it’s up to 43 percent of his attempts now. The confidence he’s shooting with, combined with early results makes me believe that this is a real skill.

Okongwu can play in jumbo lineups next to Kristaps Porzingis, or still activate Atlanta’s pick-and-roll game when paired with Trae Young. That kind of versatility has him comfortably on pace to make his 4 year, $62 million contract look like a bargain.

Jaden McDaniels

For McDaniels, it’s a story of quality over quantity. His three-point attempts have remained fairly flat, even dropping a smidge this season to a career low per 100 possessions. But he’s making far more than ever (a staggering 45.6 percent!), and that’s opened the door to a transformational offensive campaign that’s nudged his ceiling as a player northward.

As his confidence in his shooting abilities has grown, his total package has flourished. He’s no longer solely camping in the corners waiting for simple spot-up opportunities. In 2023-24, 90 percent of his triple tries were of the catch-and-shoot variety. In 2024-25, it was 87 percent. So far this season, that’s dropped to 72 percent.

This was not in the repertoire we saw McDaniels exhibit prior to 2025-26.

Furthermore, he’s leveraging the threat of his three-ball into driving opportunities. Look at him give Kawhi Leonard a taste of his own medicine.

McDaniels’ touch closer to the hoop has always been his true calling card on offense. He’s made almost 50 percent of his career attempts from between 10 and 16 feet, and now that defenses have to respect his trey game, he’s been able to get to his real bread-and-butter more than ever before. Nearly 14 percent of his shots have come from that range this season, up from nine percent over his first five years.

The result is career-best marks in scoring, usage, efficiency, and assists, to go along with his usual ball-hawking defense. McDaniels has never been better, and his improved marksmanship from distance has been the driving force.

Peyton Watson

Watson profiled very similarly to McDaniels coming out of the PAC-12 (RIP). A springy, long-armed, slight-of-build defensive marauder who couldn’t throw a ball into the ocean off a life raft. The lack of offensive juice hindered his playing time in previous seasons, but so far this year he’s up to a career-high 27 minutes per contest.

The additional tick comes largely as a result of trust earned through an improved outside jumper. Watson came into 2025-26 as a career 32.8 percent shooter from beyond the arc on 4.4 attempts per 100 possessions. This season he’s hoisting 5.0 attempts per 100 at 37.5 percent accuracy. And the Nuggets are coaxing it out of him more. After not even trying a long-ball in three of his first four outings this season, last month Watson recorded his first two career games of five made threes in the span of a week.

It’s not all just wide open (defined by NBA.com as the closest defender being more than 6 feet away) work either. On attempts where the closest defender is less than six feet away, Watson is hitting at the exact same rate (37.5 percent). Last season that metric was at 29 percent; two years ago it was a cataclysmic 9.5 percent.

Defenders now have to shade an extra step over to him, and that opens up more opportunities for him to slip backdoor and receive these exquisite dime drops from Nikola Jokic.

Watson is not an offensive weapon by any means. He still sports a negative offensive BPM. But, it’s the least negative it’s ever been in his young career, and as his shot stabilizes into competency, his role on a championship contender will only increase. Defenses will dare Watson to make them pay in the postseason; let’s see if he can rise to the occasion.

Ayo Dosunmu

Another case of quality over quantity. Dosunmu’s propensity for catapulting from behind the line has remained constant, but his share of success has increased. He’s canning a cool 47.5 percent of his triple tries, taking 6.7 per 100 possessions (a career-high by a fraction).

If you’re thinking to yourself, “But hang on a minute, haven’t we seen this from him before?”, well, you’re an astute observer of the NBA so go ahead and pat yourself on the back. In 2023-24, Dosunmu shot 40.3 percent from downtown on 6.6 takes per 100, before sinking back to 32.8 percent on 6.3 per 100 in 2024-25.

So am I falling for another Dosunmu deception? I think not. The difference this time is he’s also boosted his free-throw percentage to a career-best 85.7 percent, over seven percentage points better than his career average. He’s also getting to the line more frequently than ever, with his free-throw rate rising to 0.267 from a career rate of 0.161. Free-throw accuracy is the truest measure of shooting ability, so I’m betting that the improvement from beyond the arc is sustainable this time around.

That fortified outside shot is fueling his parade to the foul line. Dosunmu is a slasher at heart, and now that defenders are more likely to chase him off the arc thanks to the respect his three-ball has garnered, he’s capitalizing by getting downhill for layups and free-throws.

Dosunmu is posting career marks in scoring, usage, and efficiency. He’s an awesome rotation guard stuck on a moribund Bulls team. He will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, and I’d expect him to get a sizable raise over his current $7.5 million salary.

Noah Clowney

Let’s end on a deep cut. If you’re not watching Brooklyn Nets basketball, I don’t blame you, but the real sickos are keeping an eye on Clowney’s development.

The third year forward out of Alabama has had a flashing green light to fire away, squeezing off 11.2 threes per 100 possessions. That’s actually slightly down from his 12.5 attempts per 100 from a season ago, but he’s improved his marksmanship from 33.3 percent to 36.1 percent. And he’s been on a heater lately, draining a scorching 47.1 percent of his 7.4 treys per game over his past seven contests.

While Clowney still has a rather mechanical looking shot with a longer load time, the stroke is clean and compact, and he’s pulling it without any hesitation. But what’s so tantalizing about Clowney’s shooting potential is his size. It doesn’t matter if he’s got a long wind-up–at 6-foot-10 he can get that shot off over just about anybody. Watch how he doesn’t even notice Jordan Clarkson’s desperate closeout.

For a role player these days, knocking down three-balls is only half the battle. You’ve got to be able to drive closeouts as well, and either start the blender or get all the way to the goal yourself. Clowney is parlaying his new-fangled accuracy from distance into more fruitful drives to the cup, using his superior size to finish over smaller wing defenders.

He’s more than doubled his drives per game from last year from 2.0 to 4.4. And according to NBA.com player tracking, nobody in the entire association who averages at least three drives per contest has been fouled as often, not even notorious free-throw grifters like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Trae Young. Clowney has been hacked on 22.5 percent of his stampedes to the hoop, which has led to him nearly doubling his free-throw rate from a season ago to 0.404 (up from 0.215).

Clowney still has a long way to go to round out his game, but the fact that he’s already becoming a threat from beyond the arc bodes well for his trajectory. He’s extension eligible next summer, and although the Nets are miles away from contending, they’d do well to lock up an athletic jumbo wing with a potentially sweet shooting stroke on a long-term, team-friendly deal.