Thomas Bryant has regressed slightly from last year to this year when it comes to his three-point shooting. After going 0/3 from the threezone last night in an otherwise efficient scoring night, Bryant is shooting below 30% from three. That’s still better than so-called stretch five Brook Lopez is shooting currently (god damn it god damn it god damn it), but it’s not great. Was I premature in crowning Bryant as the next elite stretch five in the league? Yeah, probably, but you can’t blame me. I was blinded by the pedigree of his last name and the fact that he paired his developing outside shot with a hyper-efficient inside game.
Luckily, Bryant is in good position to be a total studbeast going forward because he doesn’t overly rely on three-pointers to contribute to the offense, unlike some players I can think of (god damn it god damn it god damn it). Just take this game for example. He’s not standing around four feet behind the three-point line waiting to bomb ultra-deep threes. He’s rolling to the basket, he’s setting himself up for easier midrange jimbos, he’s flying in for rebounds like he’s the second coming of Moses Malone. The three is just one of many tools in his toolbox.
Is it well past time to make Thomas Bryant the official second banana behind Bradley Beal? Yes. It is well past that time. And, every time I look at my watch, we get further and further past that time at a rate of one second per second.