Entering Friday night’s contest with the Golden State Warriors, Nikola Jokic was shooting 41.6% from beyond the arc, by far a career-high. Despite the Nuggets 104-118 loss to Steph Curry and company, Jokic connected on 4 of his 7 three-point attempts in the game, raising his percentage up to 42.0% for the season. Here’s the catch, it would be a lot higher if not for his “heaves”.
Jokic leads the entire NBA this season in heaves (shots beyond half court as the game clock is running out) with a whopping 21 of them. Last season, the Joker also led the league in heaves, but with just 8 of them. It is apparent that Jokic does not care about stat-padding his percentages at all, as his 3FG% would rise to over 44% if he stopped shooting them.
At the same time, this has been great for Nuggets fans, basketball lovers, and the NBA as a whole. Watching Jokic go for it and chuck a 40-foot shot is one of the most fun things at the end of the half possible, especially when most players pretend to get a shot up, but intentionally release the ball a half second after the buzzer so as to not hurt their percentages.
The best example of this is when he connected on an incredibly one-armed long shot against the Utah Jazz in late March. If more players were not afraid of scrutiny or hurting their percentages, we would see a lot more insane shot attempts and buzzer beaters. There is a realistic solution to help this though, through an official NBA rule change.
The G-league has already adjusted and created a more fun league
NBA players are obviously hesitant to chuck up long shots that could hurt their percentages, considering that players get new contracts, and sometimes even bonuses, based on how efficiently they shoot three-pointers. There is very little upside currently for players to attempt these heaves and a lot to lose financially. The G-League has found a way to fix this, however.
The G-League showcased a rule change this season where end-of-period “heaves” or half-court shots taken at the buzzer were not counted as individual missed field goal attempts for the player who shoots them. Instead, those heaves were recorded as a team missed field goal attempt if it did not go in.
The criteria for a “heave” consists of if the shot is from beyond 36 feet (roughly half court or beyond), that the shot attempt takes place in the final three seconds of the first three periods of the game, and if the play originated in the back-court of the offensive team.
There is no reason for Adam Silver to not bring the same rule or a similar rule to the NBA. Players like Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, Damian Lillard, and others would surely take and make some insane buzzer beaters like Jokic if it did not impact their percentages. Fans would absolutely love it and the league could be ridden of players pretending to get the shot off at the buzzer.
Jokic has officially proven that he does not care about his percentages, but he has also proven that a rule change is needed to improve the product of the league in a very easy way.