It’s almost this season, and then we won’t need to talk about last season anymore, but last season the Bucks ranked last in the league in 3-pointers made.

They also ranked last in the league in 3-point attempts.





Not coincidentally, the Bucks ranked 26th in offensive efficiency (based on basketball-reference numbers).

As you can see in the chart at the top, the Warriors and Cavaliers made the most threes in the NBA. They had pretty good seasons.

The top five teams in 3-point makes all ranked among the top-10 most efficient offenses. There are exceptions – the Spurs boasted one of the top offenses in the league despite not making many threes, while the 76ers made a bunch of threes but ranked last in the league in offensive efficiency.

So you need to play to the strengths of your personnel, and there is no hope of trying to outshoot teams like the Warriors and Cavaliers from deep – you need to beat them other ways. Overall, though, this is a 3-point league, and it is hard to keep up offensively if you don’t take (and make) at least something close to average.

Team 3-Pointers Made Rank (2015-16) Offensive Efficiency Rank (2015-16) Warriors 1 1 Cavaliers 2 3 Rockets 3 8 Hornets 4 9 Trail Blazers 5 6

More threes than ever were attempted and made this past season, the latest data point in a fast-moving upward trend. Whereas teams attempted threes on less than eight percent of field goals in 1990-91, that number was up above 28 percent on average across the league last season. The Bucks were below 19 percent.





And now the good news: The Bucks are going to take (and make) more threes this season. Probably by a whole lot.

Combined, the three key offseason free agency additions (Matthew Dellavedova, Mirza Teletovic, Jason Terry) shot more threes than twos last season.

Team 3PA as percent of FGA Bucks 2015-16 18.9 Matthew Dellavedova 46.7 Mirza Teletovic 59.2 Jason Terry 69.4

Teletovic in particular is a high-volume 3-point shooter. To provide some context, he made nearly as many threes last season all by himself (181) as the seven departed Bucks (that would be Jerryd Bayless, O.J. Mayo, Greivis Vasquez, Chris Copeland, Damien Inglis, Jared Cunningham and Johnny O’Bryant) made combined (187).

Here are some rough estimates on how many threes the Bucks may make this season, and where that would place them.

Player 3-Pointers Made (2015-16) 3-Pointers Made (2016-17 Estimate) Mirza Teletovic 181 170 Khris Middleton 143 140 Matthew Dellavedova 98 95 Jason Terry 93 70 Giannis Antetokounmpo 28 40 Rashad Vaughn 43 30 Michael Carter-Williams 15 20 Tyler Ennis 13 15 Jabari Parker 9 15 Steve Novak 2 10 Malcolm Brogdon - 8 Thon Maker - 2 John Henson 0 0 Miles Plumlee 0 0 Greg Monroe 0 0

With these (somewhat conservative) estimates, the Bucks would make 615 3-pointers, compared to 440 last season. The 615 would have placed them a modest 24th in the league this past year, but an increase of 175 made threes would be substantial, and feels quite possible.

There are some wild cards here, in particular Antetokounmpo, Parker and Vaughn. None of them shot above 30 percent from distance last season. If their percentages stay that low, their makes may go down from last year, as it will be hard to justify continuing to launch. The hope is that their accuracy increases, and with that, their attempts. Minute allotments will also play a role – if Vaughn, Ennis and/or Brogdon impress, that could mean fewer minutes for Terry, and so on.

The Bucks spotted a glaring weakness and redressed. You have to be careful when fixing one issue to make sure a new leak does not spring elsewhere (3-point defense, for example, needs major work from last season), but this feels like a smart step in the right direction toward an offense not only fit to compete in the NBA today, but one that can open up room for Giannis, Jabari and Khris – the most significant three of all.