I watched all 112 of Troy Daniels' 3-point attempts this season, here’s what I learned

The Nuggets under Michael Malone have never had a 3-point specialist quite like Troy Daniels.

This season for the Lakers, 71% of Daniels’ field goal attempts (112/158) have been 3-pointers. In comparison to a couple former renowned Nuggets 3-point shooters, 53% of Malik Beasley’s and 54% of Juancho Hernangomez’s field goal attempts respectively this season came from beyond the arc.

Even going back to the prehistoric days of the Jokic Ball era, only Mike Miller, Devin Harris and Hernangomez can compare to Daniels’ 3-point rate, but their past 3-point frequencies don’t measure up to the pace at which Daniels has fired from beyond the arc this season.

Wednesday afternoon the Nuggets agreed to a contract with Daniels who was waived by the Lakers on March 1.

Who is Troy Daniels?

• 6-foot-4 shooting guard
• 28-years-old
• Seven-year pro who has spent time on six different teams (Rockets, Timberwolves, Hornets, Grizzlies, Suns, Lakers)
• Career 40% 3-point shooter
• Shot 36% from 3-point range over 41 games with the Lakers this season (11 minutes per game). It’s the worst Daniels has shot from 3 since 2014-15 season when he bounced between Minnesota, Houston and Chicago, which is surprising considering the talent he played with in Los Angeles.

Daniels arrives in Denver just in time. The Nuggets shot only 3 of 20 from 3-point range in their 116-100 loss to the Warriors which was tied for the fewest 3s Denver has made in a game this season. On the year, the Nuggets are ranked 17th in the league in 3-point percentage. Daniels will help Denver in that department.

Here’s what I noticed after watching all of Daniels’ 112 3-point attempts this season.

A pure catch-and-shoot guard with a lighting-quick release

Out of Daniels’ 158 3-point attempts this season, 80 (or 71%) have come on catch-and-shoot jumpers while he’s hoisted just 31 3-pointers off the dribble. On catch-and-shoot 3s, Daniels has shot 28-80 (35%) and on 3-point shots off the dribble he’s converted on 11-31 (35%).

That’s Daniels’ game. He’s going to stay almost exclusively around the 3-point arc. Most likely he’ll catch-and-shoot and on a few occasions he’ll dribble into a better look. On the season, Daniels has attempted 112 3-pointers to only 25 shots in the paint.

Don’t expect him to do much with the ball in his hands either. Daniels has used just 16 pick-and-roll possessions where he’s the ball handler this year. He’s a play finisher, not a play starter and 54 of his 62 field goals as a Laker were assisted.

Teams know about Daniels’ 3-point prowess and scout him accordingly. While some opponents that face the Nuggets aren’t nearly as worried about Gary Harris’ 3-point shot as they once were, they’ll never rotate away from Daniels on the backside of their defense. His reliable shot-fake also helps him ward off defenders that are in an all-out sprint to the corner or wing in an effort to deter his shot.

Daniels also has a lightning-quick release and squares up towards the basket really quickly when sprinting into shots around the floor.

Deeeeep range

Daniels doesn’t quite possess Lillard logo range, but he’s not afraid to launch from 25-feet and beyond.

Jamal Murray is the only player I can think of currently on the Nuggets’ roster who’s comfortable shooting from several feet beyond the arc and we only see Murray pull-up from this deep on a few scarce occasions, usually in transition. It’s the ultimate bail out for your offense that extends the defense just a little bit more in the half-court and can also be a counter to some of the zone defenses that teams have played against the Nuggets as of late due to Denver’s 3-point struggles.

3-pointers off DHOs

A lot of Daniels’ 3-pointers out of dribble hand-offs with the Lakers came in actions involving another guard. The biggest difference in Denver is that those actions will most of the time involve Nikola Jokic, Paul Millsap, Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee.

Daniels is very comfortable launching from 3 off of DHOs which will come in handy within the Nuggets’ offense. Being able to fire off 3’s behind DHOs if the defense tries to go under the screen is a vital skill to have in Denver’s offense and at times this season opposing defenses haven’t had to pay for slipping under the DHO screen because of the Nuggets’ guards and wings inconsistent 3-point shooting.

If a a defender has tried to go under a Laker guard-guard DHO this season Daniels steps back and shoots without hesitation.

Check out how deep some of these 3s are too.

Daniels also has had a few of his 3-point looks this season come in pick-and-pop actions with a Laker big, and with how much the Nuggets like to invert the floor and have their guards set ball screens for Jokic, it’s not hard to imagine Denver’s All-Star center taking LeBron James’ place as the ball handler in the action below which results in a 3-pointer.

Again, there’s that shot-fake.

Off-ball movement/re-locator

The Lakers’ half-court offense from what I saw with Daniels on the floor isn’t as equal-opportunity oriented as Denver’s, but Los Angeles gets out in transition more. On the season, just 14.2% (20th-most in the league) of the Nuggets possessions came in transition, per Cleaning The Glass, while 16.6% (fourth-most in the league) of the Lakers total possessions were of the transition variety. Daniels knows where to be on the fast break and sprints to his spots quickly whether he’s heading towards the wing or the corner.

Thirteen of Daniels’ 3-pointers this season have come from the corners (he’s shooting 31% from the right and left corners combined) while the other 27 have come above the break. He has a good sense of how and when to relocate and balance the floor.

What will his role be?

It’s difficult to imagine Daniels getting assured minutes in the Nuggets’ nightly rotation and he’s firmly behind Murray, Harris, Will Barton and Monte Morris on Denver’s depth chart at the two guard spots.

But there will be games, like the recent Warriors loss and potential playoff matchups where Daniels’ shooting will be needed. Who can forget the Nuggets dismal 6 of 28 performance from 3-point range in their Game 1 loss against the Spurs, or when Denver shot 2 of 19 from beyond the arc in its Game 7 defeat to the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference semifinals.

It was integral for the Nuggets to add another shooter ahead of what’s set up to be a grueling postseason run. Denver accomplished that task.