In what has become the highest-wattage event of All-Star weekend, six 2024 All-Stars (Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Damian Lillard, Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell, Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns and New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson), one 2023 All-Star (Utah Jazz big man Lauri Markkanen) and one non-All-Star in Milwaukee Bucks' Malik Beasley will hoist as many triples as they can in 70 seconds from spots beyond the arc on Saturday in Indianapolis.
What Beasley lacks in All-Star power, he makes up for in accuracy. He’s drilling 44.9% of his long balls this season, seventh in the NBA and the highest clip of any of the 2024 Starry 3-Point Contest participants. Young ranks third in the league in total three-pointers made, trailing only Stephen Curry and Luka Dončić. Beasley, Lillard, Mitchell, Markkanen, Brunson and Haliburton are all in the top-25.
Finally, Towns trails the group in total makes; he’s also shooting a career-best 43.6% from distance this season in Minnesota. Towns won this competition when Cleveland hosted the NBA All-Star festivities two years ago and will be looking to defend his crown.
Donovan Mitchell hopes to burnish shooting reputation in 3-Point Contest
Meanwhile, for Mitchell, this will be his second overall three-point contest appearance and the first with the Cavs. Mitchell last participated when Atlanta hosted All-Star weekend in 2021, narrowly missing out on the final round despite scoring 22 points. While Mitchell originally hoped that Cleveland marksman Sam Merrill would participate in the competition, he jokingly said he'd gladly take Merrill's place.
“Sam didn’t want to do it,” Mitchell quipped. “I tried to get him out. But he just wanted to chill with his family. So I figured, why not go out there and win it for him?”
Last season, Mitchell was one of the most efficient high-volume pull-up three-point shooters in the NBA, knocking down 39.2% of his 5.7 off-the-dribble threes per game. That was third-best in the league for anyone attempting over four three-pointers a game, behind only Haliburton and Curry.
That number is down to 35.2% this season, which mirrors Mitchell's overall percentage. His three-point shooting is down to 36.1% after converting 38.6% last season. Granted, Mitchell isn’t having his best outside shooting season, shooting the third-worst percentage of his career. But to be fair, he’s also taking mostly difficult, off-the-dribble pull-ups. So, there's context to why Mitchell's numbers are lower than usual.
Regardless, Mitchell feels he doesn’t get the credit he deserves as a shooter. That’s something he’s hoping to change in Indianapolis.
“I don’t get labeled a shooter like the guys who are in it are,” Mitchell said. “But I believe I can go out there and win it. So that’s what I’m going to go out there and do.”
Since the 2020-21 season, only three players have made more three-pointers than Mitchell: Curry, Buddy Hield and Jayson Tatum. In fact, Mitchell is tied with Curry for the least number of games played (227) of the four players in that span. Five players who have made 600 or more shots from beyond the arc in that period have fewer games played.
Mitchell could also make history as the first player to have won the dunk contest (2018) and three-point competition. Securing those honors would be an opportunity for Mitchell to prove, yet again, that he deserved to be named an All-Star starter since he’ll be competing against the two starters from the Eastern Conference selected over him in Haliburton and Lillard. It would be a sweet start to a big weekend for Cleveland's lone All-Star.
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