u/Blazer4L

Stephon Castle’s most similar guard seasons by play style since 2016-17 according to nbagalaxy.com:

1). 2020-21 Ja Morant
2). 2019-20 De’Aaron Fox
3). 2022-23 Ja Morant
4). 2016-17 John Wall

There is a huge gap defensively between Castle and Ja, but their slashing overlap probably overwhelmed the overlaps between the other players

Amen Thompson's five most similar guard seasons since 2016-17 according to nbagalaxy.com:

1). 2018-19 Ben Simmons
2). 2020-21 Ben Simmons
3). 2017-18 Ben Simmons
4). 2025-26 Dyson Daniels
5). 2024-25 Ben Simmons

His ball handling responsibilities will definitely go down with FVV coming back next year, but do you guys want him to be a guard or a wing in the future?

Its gonna be very hard to play guard without a reliable outside shot or a super strong handle.

1). 19-20 Chris Paul

2). 21-22 Trae Young

3). 24-25 Darius Garland

4). 21-22 Darius Garland

5). 21-22 Chris Paul

2025-26 Shaedon Sharpe's most similar players (since 2016-17) according to nbagalaxy.com:

1). 2022-23 Jalen Green
2). 2024-25 Jalen Green
3). 2023-24 Anthony Edwards
4). 2023-24 Jalen Green
5). 2018-19 Zach Lavine

1 in 5 chance boys, we are still alive boys 💯🔥

All these screenshots and statistics are from nbagalaxy.com.

I did a little searching, and found the exact statistics the site used to calculate for each 3PT-related skill:

1). Deep Range Shooting: Took account for the percentiles of:

• Avg3ptShotDistance, 3fga_frequency, 3P_Accuracy (adjusted to players with a similar shooting range).

2). Catch-Shoot Shooting: Took account for the percentiles of:

• catch + shoot 3P_frequency, catch_shoot_3P_accuracy (adjusted by average opponent shot contest)

3). Contested 3PT Shot Making: Took account for the percentiles of:

• pct_3fga_wide_open (where lower values are better), avg_closest_defender_per_3FGA (lower values better), 3P_Accuracy (adjusted by average opponent shot contest), tight_very_tight_3fga_frequency, 3fga_frequency

4). Pull Up 3PT Shooting: Took account for the percentiles of:

• pull_up_3P_frequency, pull_up_3P_accuracy (adjusted to players with similar pull-up 3P rates)

5). 3PT Volume: Took account for the percentiles of:

• 3fga_frequency, 3fga/game

6). 3PT Accuracy: Took account for the percentiles of:

• 3P_Accuracy (70% of the weight, and adjusted by average shot contest), 3fga_frequency (30% of the weight)

As we all know from watching him, AJ Green is well on his way to becoming an all time great 3PT shooting talent.

2018-19 might be Stephen Curry's most underrated shooting year. When I saw this statistic (from nbagalaxy.com), I genuinely looked at my screen confused.

I did a little searching, and found the exact statistics the site used to calculate for each 3PT-related skill:

1). Deep Range Shooting: Took account for the percentiles of:

• Avg3ptShotDistance, 3fga_frequency, 3P_Accuracy (adjusted to players with a similar shooting range).
• Curry was at the 99th percentile for all 2018-19 Guards .

2). Catch-Shoot Shooting: Took account for the percentiles of:

• catch + shoot 3P_frequency, catch_shoot_3P_accuracy (adjusted by average opponent shot contest)
• Curry was at the 97th percentile for all 2018-19 Guards.

3). Contested 3PT Shot Making: Took account for the percentiles of:

• pct_3fga_wide_open (where lower values are better), avg_closest_defender_per_3FGA (lower values better), 3P_Accuracy (adjusted by average opponent shot contest), tight_very_tight_3fga_frequency, 3fga_frequency
• Curry was at the 96th percentile for all 2018-19 Guards.

4). Pull Up 3PT Shooting: Took account for the percentiles of:

• pull_up_3P_frequency, pull_up_3P_accuracy (adjusted to players with similar pull-up 3P rates)
• Curry was at the 98th percentile for all 2018-19 Guards.

5). 3PT Volume: Took account for the percentiles of:

• 3fga_frequency, 3fga/game
• Curry was at the 99th percentile for all 2018-19 Guards.

6). 3PT Accuracy: Took account for the percentiles of:

• 3P_Accuracy (70% of the weight, and adjusted by average shot contest), 3fga_frequency (30% of the weight)
• Curry was at the 100th percentile for all 2018-19 Guards.

Genuinely a once in a life-time player, man. I have never seen someone so talented in both On-ball and Off-ball scenarios from 3.

I have also attached other elite 3PT Shooting Seasons from other notable volume 3PT shooters just to emphasize the difference in shooting abilities.

https://www.nbagalaxy.com/

I made an interactive "Galaxy" (3-D UMAP Embedding) of NBA guard player-seasons since 2016-17.

I used a blocked-PCA, k means++ algorithm in order to cluster these guards into 12 distinct archetypes as well.

By selecting any player season in the galaxy, you are able to see the most similar players to your selected player with respect to their play-styles. In the similarity page itself you are able to see the 3PT, Mid-Range, Playmaking, and Defensive similarity scores between the selected player and his "doppelgangers".

You are also able to see how a player's role changes across his career by clicking the 'CAREER PATH' button in the player profile. This tells you what clusters/archetypes he was assigned to each year of his career.

Every player is also assigned an accurate 3-PT, Mid-Range, Rim Pressure, Playmaking and Defensive skill percentile obtained through adjusted percentile calculations explained in the site. Players are also assigned badges based on their within-season percentiles of the medians of different groups of features.