So, I was curious about who some of the most efficient mid range shooters. I previously did this a few years ago (back in 2020) but limited it to high volume scorers and thought that’d be a disservice to those still had enough volume but weren’t known as scorers. So the new list is players with 2x+ All Star appearances and over 1500 FGA in that range. I’ll post the Top 20 but also add some notable mentions namely those players who everyone thinks of also when they hear mid range or just other higher volume scorers.
Rk | Player | G | FG | FGA | FG% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nikola Jokić | 507 | 751 | 1543 | 48.7% |
2 | John Stockton | 506 | 901 | 1857 | 48.5% |
3 | Chris Paul | 1217 | 3376 | 7035 | 48.0% |
4 | Steve Nash | 1140 | 2413 | 5051 | 47.8% |
5 | Dirk Nowitzki | 1511 | 6236 | 13225 | 47.2% |
6 | Glenn Robinson | 525 | 2487 | 5314 | 46.8% |
7 | Kyrie Irving | 668 | 1694 | 3631 | 46.7% |
8 | Stephen Curry | 842 | 1678 | 3606 | 46.5% |
9 | Khris Middleton | 673 | 1562 | 3362 | 46.5% |
10 | Allan Houston | 602 | 2330 | 5022 | 46.4% |
11 | Kevin Durant | 997 | 3522 | 7607 | 46.3% |
12 | Trae Young | 353 | 725 | 1584 | 45.8% |
13 | Kawhi Leonard | 594 | 1443 | 3156 | 45.7% |
14 | Al Horford | 912 | 1644 | 3612 | 45.5% |
15 | David West | 964 | 2496 | 5507 | 45.3% |
16 | Devin Booker | 527 | 1532 | 3387 | 45.2% |
17 | Kevin Garnett | 1378 | 5011 | 11082 | 45.2% |
18 | Michael Jordan | 306 | 1951 | 4346 | 44.9% |
19 | Donovan Mitchell | 405 | 730 | 1629 | 44.8% |
20 | Joel Embiid | 404 | 1067 | 2412 | 44.2% |
HM | Damian Lillard | 743 | 1194 | 2728 | 43.8% |
HM | Reggie Miller | 654 | 1413 | 3231 | 43.7% |
HM | Klay Thompson | 723 | 1668 | 3819 | 43.7% |
HM | DeMar DeRozan | 1034 | 3661 | 8676 | 42.2% |
HM | Paul Pierce | 1287 | 2870 | 6932 | 41.4% |
HM | Carmelo Anthony | 1253 | 3890 | 9400 | 41.4% |
HM | Kobe Bryant | 1324 | 4790 | 11605 | 41.3% |
HM | Tracy McGrady | 896 | 2810 | 6910 | 40.7% |
HM | James Harden | 788 | 893 | 2202 | 40.6% |
HM | Gilbert Arenas | 528 | 1184 | 2930 | 40.4% |
HM | Paul George | 773 | 1520 | 3784 | 40.2% |
HM | Anthony Davis | 667 | 1611 | 4049 | 39.8% |
HM | Allen Iverson | 913 | 3288 | 8409 | 39.1% |
HM | Jayson Tatum | 429 | 639 | 1633 | 39.1% |
HM | Russell Westbrook | 1077 | 2502 | 6457 | 38.7% |
HM | Dwyane Wade | 1047 | 2665 | 6916 | 38.5% |
HM | LeBron James | 1398 | 3057 | 8047 | 38.0% |
HM | Jason Kidd | 1094 | 1776 | 4715 | 37.7% |
HM | Giannis Antetokounmpo | 629 | 761 | 2087 | 36.5% |
HM | Manu Ginóbili | 811 | 661 | 1818 | 36.4% |
HM | Blake Griffin | 621 | 1072 | 2977 | 36.0% |
Extra Notes
- Something I didn’t add was how often these mid range shooters were assisted aka how many created their own looks vs being created for. Among the top 20, it was around 46% assisted rate. The lowest % was Chris Paul at 10%. The highest was Al Horford at 79.6%. Chris Paul is actually the least assisted out of all eligible players while having the 12th most attempts.
This is exactly why when people say “Curry is the greatest shooter of all time” they are wrong. Greatest 3PT of all time, not greatest shooter from every spot on the floor.
Guys like Dirk smoke him in midrange shooting.
The fact that Kevin Garnett is only a few percentage away from everyone ahead of him despite basically doubling up all of their FGAs, with exceptions to KD & Dirk, is insane. He mastered that top of the key 20 footer & that baseline fade.
demar not being top 20 and kd not being top 10 is crazy
Mj shouldn’t be so low. Do the stats include his whole career or just the late part?
The volume discrepancy in this list is insane.
Dirk is the most impressive. That volume is ridiculous.
Side note: Forgot how efficient KG was from Midrange
KG’s shooting is beyond underrated. He was a monster from midrange and long 2s.
Ik this is just efficiency but I think volume should still play a part. Like Dirk has taken 12,000 more midranges is only shooting and 1% less than the Jokic.
What is considered a mid-range? Giannis being on there kinda blows my mind. Guy can’t shoot that well outside the restricted area
Jokic is the best player ever
It’s Dirk and then KD/CP3. Dirk has the volume and %.
Joker is good but most of his career came in the spacing era, so his efficient is not as crazy.
If you remove Chris Paul’s last 2 years he might be number 1
Surprised Brad Miller didn’t make the cut. Nice stroke for a big man, 80% FT shooter, 2x all star… grew up playing guard before late growth spurt in high school. Always remember him having a great short-mid range shot 🤷♂️
The fact that you required 2x all star appearances ruins the whole value of this list.
So you’re going to ignore SGA on here who would be near the top of it weren’t for that?
Cherry picked doesn’t help things
Jalen Brunson probably hasn’t been a volume scorer for long enough to be included? Otherwise he would be among the top 10 I’d imagine.
Would be interested to see where Shai falls on this list