The problem is Bradley is now jacking threes like there's no tomorrow (3 per game) -- and when he shot .500 from the field he mostly got wide open layups.
That's not a problem, that's the kind of thing you do to try and develop a young player. I want him to pick a few spots on the floor other than the corner and shoot a three almost any time he's open there until he is considered a threat or he proves he will never develop that shot.
I totally agree. He needs to take these shots and look for them in game to get used to it.
And this discussion is fine and all, but I hope we aren't saying Avery hasn't made an impact because he shoots 3 three pointers a game and has a 42 % eFG? Right?
Well, he's taking them. It's mostly a brick fest. "Developing as a threat" is all fine and dandy, except that you don't shoot yourself into being a threat, that's putting the cart before the horse.
I don't think that's the case. He's got too small a sample size to draw any reasonable conclusions, the first few games he was back and the game or two after his rib injury probably constitute 1/4 to 1/3 of his total attempts.
So what _is_ the case then?
Well, if you look at the aggregate of all his shooting at various levels (high school, college, D-League, AND the NBA) then he projects out to be a pretty decent shooter - somewhere between 35-40% from 3PT land, for example.
This season is, as BBallTim indicates, still a small sample size and it is not at all unreasonable to believe that the early couple of weeks of shooting, just back from a long absence from the game, are not necessarily representative of how he'll shoot over the long run - but they have a pretty strong statistical weight on the current season. Thus his overall 3PT% for the season is a miserable 31.2% so far.
As others have noted, though, over the last 10 games, Bradley has shot 37.9% from 3PT land. That seems more likely to be where he settles in for the long haul (given his larger body of work at the NBA and other levels). At that rate, yes, yes I do want him taking at least 3 3PT shots per game. In fact, I'd prefer him to be taking 4 or 5 such shots.