OKC Thunder: Palpable growth lands Hamidou Diallo on top 10 list

OKC Thunder guard Hamidou Diallo (6) : Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
OKC Thunder guard Hamidou Diallo (6) : Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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OKC Thunder. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports /

Hamidou Diallo on top 10 list for effective field goal percentage improvement

More importantly, Diallo is one of ten players who’ve shown the largest leap in his overall shooting efficiency as per John Schuhmann of NBA.com. The stats master listed the top 10 players who’ve demonstrated the biggest jump in effective field goal percentage this season and Diallo is on the list.

Schuhmann used caveats of a minimum of 250 field goal attempts this season and 100 from last season to weed out the players who would land on the list but aren’t a regular rotation player.

The top 10 are:

  1. Sterling Brown – Houston Rockets
  2. Bobby Portis – Milwaukee Bucks
  3. Jeff Green – Brooklyn Nets
  4. Lauri Markkanen – Chicago Bulls
  5. De’Andre Hunter – Atlanta Hawks
  6. Eric Gordon = Houston Rockets
  7. Royce O’Neale – Utah Jazz
  8. Thaddeus Young – Chicago Bulls
  9. Michael Porter Jr. – Denver Nuggets
  10. Hamidou Diallo – OKC Thunder

Here’s the more detailed view of his growth:

2019-20:

Field goals made:132
Field goals attempted 296
Field goal percent: 44.6 percent
Effective field goal percent 47.3 percent

2020-21:
Field goals made: 89
Field goals attempted: 165
Field goal percent: 53.9 percent
Effective field goal percent 56.1 percent

That’s an improvement of almost ten percent and specifically 8.8 percent overall.

Hamidou Diallo’s growth and placement on this list is arguably more valuable than some of the players who land above him in the top ten.

For example Portis, Green, Hunter, O’Neale, and Porter Jr. are playing on elite teams with stars who draw more defensive attention. That means many of their shots would be either wide-open looks or less defensive pressure.

In the case of Brown and Gordon with the exit of Harden, they are getting more touches.

The only true comparable players on the list on Markknen and Young who are adapting to former Thunder coach Billy Donovan’s new system and are likely benefitting from that.