A barrage of 3-pointers is coming the Kings’ way

When defenders settle into wide stances, they’ll need to keep their arms raised facing the Sacramento Kings. Sacramento’s newly assembled roster is finely tuned to volley 3’s, from the corners or the bridge of the arc.

It should be a sharp contrast from the 2014-15 Kings, who experienced a downtown drought of epic proportions. The team made 5.6 3-pointers per game, good for 28th in the league and the third-lowest rate for the franchise since the 1998-99 season.

Too many times, open looks from deep failed to convert, convincing defenders to regularly sag off the perimeter and negate Sacramento’s spacing. Poor misses ricocheted to opponents eager to test the break.

For most of the year, rookie and touted sniper Nik Stauskas was the poster child for rimmed out 3’s, and sophomore starter Ray McCallum was even less reliable. Veteran point guards Ramon Sessions and Andre Miller partnered to produce a season of putrid shooting, while forward Derrick Williams became serviceable from behind the arc only in the second half.

Upgrading the Kings’ long-range arsenal was an offseason priority. After investing his lottery pick in an interior big, Vice President of Basketball and Franchise Operations Vlade Divac made the most of free agency to shore up the outside attack.

Divac’s first signing was Marco Belinelli, a 39.2 percent deep shooter for his career and the 2014 3-point contest winner. Rajon Rondo’s addition went against the grain, yet the de facto general manager followed up by inking Caron Butler, a 38.3 percent downtown weapon since 2010. Far from content with the depth, Divac also signed James Anderson, Quincy Acy, Seth Curry and Duje Dukan, all successful long-ball makers at various levels of competition.

Just by raw numbers alone, the Kings can expect to see an increase in downtown production. The chart below lists the 2014-15 team’s statistics, with returning players asterisked.

The box below combines the free agent signees’ 2014-15 NBA returns with the leftover Kings (Kosta Koufos and Willie Cauley-Stein are excluded).

The contrast of 3-point production leaving and joining the Kings is significant, but not as noteworthy as the spike in team efficiency. Sacramento becomes a top 10 club in 3-point accuracy when attributing the offseason additions, as opposed to a lower-tier ranking with the 2014-15 squad.

Basic stats don’t tell the whole story. While Butler is likely to slow down and shooting slumps are contagious in the valley, the Kings’ scoring from outside bears potential for growth.

Rondo, who earned a career-best 3-point percentage last season, should generate wide looks for his teammates and let former starter Darren Collison play off the ball. Collison, who’s been assisted for 75 percent of his career 3-pointers, will be able to take advantage of his excellent set shot with Rondo running the controls. The same goes for the sweet stroke of Curry, who’s converted a whopping 3.1 triples on 42.5 percent accuracy in two D-League seasons.

As for development, the team would like to see more consistency from Gay, as well as a big step forward for Ben McLemore in year three. Anderson told the media in July that solidifying his 3-ball was a primary focus, so he’s set the bar up a notch. Acy has improved his shooting in every season since turning pro, and there’s always the fringe possibility of Cousins tossing 3’s. Dukan’s value is anyone’s guess, but a strong Summer League showed promising tools.

The 2015-16 Kings have yet to take the court together, but signs point to their long-range offense not being terrible. More rainbows should be beneficial in their goal to hail points on the opposition.