Danny Green on how he plans to maintain 3-point efficiency with Lakers: ‘Playing with LeBron and A.D.’

In three of the last five seasons, the Los Angeles Lakers ranked in the bottom three in 3-point percentage. Last season, they ranked second-to-last with a 3-point percentage of 33.3 percent. Only the 19-63 Phoenix Suns shot worse from 3-point range last season.

This summer, they took steps towards improving their 3-point efficiency by signing one of the league’s most productive 3-point shooters, Danny Green.

Over the course of his 10-year NBA career, Green has shot 40.4 percent from behind the arc while attempting 4.6 threes per game. Last season, during a championship run with the Toronto Raptors, Green shot a career-high 45.5 percent from 3-point range while attempting 5.4 threes per game, just 0.2 short of another career-high.

While it’s going to be difficult for Green to match that efficiency, he told Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet that he’s going to try to build on the success he had last year, and that he’s confident he’ll be able to with a new pair of superstar teammates:

MB: You had an amazing year from 3-point range last season — 46 percent, made almost 200. How do you create that again?

DG: Playing with LeBron and A.D., and obviously the other great players: Dwight, Kuz, Rondo, A.B. — so many guys we have on this team — and kind of feed off them. They’re going to push the pace, they’re going to create open shots — not just for myself but for them. So, just have fun, push the pace. It’s hard to live up to that again but I’ll try my best to. I’ll try my best to shoot as good as I did last year, if not better, and try to make as many. But like I said, just kind of go and just try to get shots within the offense.

If Green succeeds in matching his 3-point efficiency from last season, he’ll become the first player since Kyle Korver (2012-15) to average more than 45 percent from behind the arc on more than four attempts per game in consecutive seasons. If he doesn’t, he’ll still be a tremendous upgrade from the shooters the Lakers had on their roster last season.

Last season, the Lakers’ leader in 3-point percentage was Alex Caruso, who shot a blistering 48 percent from behind the arc but in only 25 appearances. For additional context, 45 of Caruso’s 50 total 3-point attempts came in the last 15 games of the season.

Lance Stephenson ranked second on the team in 3-point percentage at 37.1 percent, but was an overall negative for the Lakers on offense with an offensive box plus-minus of -1.7. Comparatively, Green was a +1.7 on offense for the Toronto Raptors last season.

As long as Green doesn’t stray too far from the 40.4 percent he’s averaged for his career, he’ll be well worth the two-year, $30 million the Lakers signed him to in July.

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