The Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly hiring longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Chip Engelland, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to Woj, the coach will work to “develop the shooting habits across the young roster” of players including Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Engelland, described as a shot whisperer, helped former Spurs star Kawhi Leonard work on his jump shot after turning pro. Popovich credits Engelland for San Antonio’s free-throw accuracy.
Giddey led all rookies in assists per game during his promising rookie campaign. He joined LeBron James and Luka Doncic as the only NBA players to record at least 600 points, 400 rebounds, and 300 assists before turning 20.
However, as a rookie, Giddey was just 26.3 percent from beyond the arc. That is well below the league average last season and ranked in the 8th percentile among players at his position, per Cleaning the Glass.
The promise is there for the Australian-born standout, who is one of nine players in NBA history with career averages of at least 12 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists per game. Six of those players have won an MVP award.
But among that group, Giddey’s 3-point percentage is lower than each of those players except for Ben Simmons (the only player on that list other than Doncic not to win an MVP).
If he can become a more accurate shooter while working with Engelland, the future looks especially bright for Oklahoma City. They have a potential star on their hands with Holmgren, and fans are getting even more excited about Giddey’s projected development: