Bradley Beal has steadily improved his game year-over-year each of the last six seasons, in one way or another, and in 2020-21 that led to the best season of his career so far. He started the All-Star game and made the All-NBA team for the first time.B
Making third team All-NBA means he was a top-15 player last season. If he is to keep improving from here, there are only so many more levels he can reach.
But Beal has a particular focus this summer as he aims to level up once again.
“Deeper threes. I’m not trying to compete with Dame [Lillard], I’m not Logo Lillard. But I want to shoot deeper threes and shoot more threes,” Beal told NBC Sports Washington.
“You know I need to shoot more threes. You probably say it all the time. And, obviously, make them. I have to make them.”
To understand Beal’s trajectory as a three-point shooter requires important context. Last season, he shot a career-low 34.9% from three and made just 2.2 threes per game, his lowest average since 2015-16, his Age 22 season.
Beal, though, still averaged a career-high 31.3 points per game to lead the Eastern Conference because threes aren’t his only source for scoring. He also used to be rightly regarded as one of the game’s best three-point shooters, as he shot 39.9% from three through his first five NBA seasons.
The context would be how his role changed, particularly as his former teammate John Wall began dealing with significant injuries. Beal’s three-point shooting dropped off after the 2016-17 season, with his percentage in the four years since falling to 35.8.