What’s KJ Martin’s Future With the Houston Rockets? 

Can Kenyon Martin Jr Keep Hitting Threes?

There’s also a real concern that Martin’s stellar 3-point shooting is, to a degree, a mirage. Early career free throw shooting is a good indicator of future 3-point shooting. Thus far, Martin has been well below league average from the stripe and has actually seen his free throw shooting dip this season to 62.5%. 

Free throw shooting isn’t 100% predictive of 3-point shooting, as Christian Wood continuously proves, but it is a concern. According to Darryl Blackport of Nylon Calculus, a player’s 3-point shooting stabilizes at 750 attempts. Martin has only taken 241 threes in his career, which makes him roughly a third of the way there. 

The realization that Martin’s strong 3-point shooting thus far isn’t a lock to continue makes the next part of his shooting profile even more concerning. Martin has struggled mightily to hit corner threes. 

Over the past two seasons, 29% of all of his 3-point attempts have come from the corners and he has only converted them at a 30% clip. This season, the league has shot 38.1% on corner threes and 34.3% on non-corner 3-pointers. 

While that means his conversion rate on the more difficult threes is well above league average, it does add another layer of doubt that he can continue to be a 36% shooter from distance. Shifting gears, let’s look at the other side of the ball.