Kevin Durant is the absolute best jump shooter in the NBA - and it's not even close

The Houston Rockets know they have an elite jumpshooter in Kevin Durant. That's an understatement - they landed the best jump shooter in the NBA.

That seems like a good plan, right? The Rockets were the best rebounding team in the NBA last year. They were one of the league's best defensive clubs. By contrast, they were sorely lacking in shooting ability. So, why not grab the league's best shooter?

That's exactly who Durant is. Don't believe me? Hoops Tonight's Jason Timpf just laid out the stats. It's hard to argue with facts, and every indication tells us that nobody in the NBA is as strong a jump shooter as Durant.

Houston Rockets acquired league's best shooter in Kevin Durant

"Kevin Durant was the best jumpshooter in the entire NBA last year...he shot over 50% on all jump shots...even if you weighted it for threes, he got 1.21 points per attempt, that ranked #1 out of the 58 players to attempt at least 500 jump shots"

-Jason Timpf

This is huge. The Rockets badly needed shooting, and they added the league's best shooter. Just as significantly, they flipped a poor shooter in order to land him.

Granted, Durant wasn't among the league's highest volume three-point shooters. His 6.0 attempts per game are sufficient, but they pale in comparison to Jalen Green's 8.1. Given that Durant is meant to replace Green as Houston's shot maker, that's notable.

So is the discrepancy in their mid-range efficiency.

In 2024-25, Durant shot 52.4% on shots between 10 and 16 feet. Green connected on 29.8% of the his attempts from the same range. The Rockets traded one of the worst midrange shooters in the NBA for one of the best.

How is that likely to effect their overall offense?

Rockets will thrive with Kevin Durant

...Favorably?

The difference in these two in three-point accuracy can't be overlooked either. Durant hit 43.0% of his triples, and Green knocked down 35.4% of his. The fact that a higher percentage of Green's overall field goals (46.0%) came from deep than Durant's (33.1%) is a secondary point if Green's threes weren't dropping.

Perhaps Durant will have to up his three-point volume with the Rockets. He's surely capable. Volume concerns aside, the Rockets flipped one of the league's worst high-volume jump shooters for its very best.

That's going to make life easier for Alperen Sengun. Double-teaming him won't be so appealing when Durant is hovering around the perimeter. It should generally benefit Amen Thompson as well - the more collective shooting the Rockets have, the less of an issue his shaky jumper becomes.

Now, his teammate will have the steadiest jumper in the NBA.