The Thunder announced plenty of off-season additions to the front office this week. No hire seemed bigger than bringing in Chip Engelland from the San Antonio Spurs.
Engelland has a reputation around the league as one of the best shooting coaches around. He has quite the reputation of being a top-notch shot doctor.
Oklahoma City is entering a unique stage in the team’s rebuild, with plenty of talented young players ready to progress and improve. One of the biggest factors that will determine the Thunder’s ceiling is if their star players can turn into elite shooters. OKC’s interesting blend of talent highlights the creation skills and leaves shooting to be desired.
Oklahoma City is banking on the outside shooting improvement of the core nucleus, and bringing in Engelland is a great place to start. Lu Dort has already improved his 3-point shooting in tremendous fashion, but was still shooting at a rather low 33.2% last season. If he can become a consistent catch-and-shoot player at 35% or higher, it will do wonders for the Thunder.
The bigger picture of this hire, however, has to be an effort to help Josh Giddey reshape his jumper. The Australian guard has All-Star potential if he can add a viable 3-point shot. While Giddey’s confidence is through the roof, he shot an alarming 26.3% from long range this past season. There’s definitely potential there, as he displayed creation skills and knocked down step backs, but the consistency is lacking.
If Engelland is able to transform Giddey’s jump shot, it will be one of Sam Presti’s biggest works of art. That would allow Oklahoma City to roll out most lineup’s with every player on the floor being able to shoot the ball.
Not only will it benefit Giddey and Dort, but both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren could become elite shooters through development. While it was an off year for SGA shooting wise last season, he was experimenting with a new form and seeing an unreasonable amount of double teams. He didn’t have many clean looks.
Holmgren, on the other hand, drilled nearly 40% of his 3-point attempts at Gonzaga and stayed hot throughout the entire summer league. If he can become the most accurate long-range shooter on the team, like the initial number suggest, Oklahoma City’s ceiling increases exponentially.
While Giddey will benefit most from the Shot Doctor, this is a huge move for every young prospect on the Thunder. OKC needs outside shooting improvement across the board and Engelland is the perfect place to start.
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