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Ex-Wolves forward Kyle Anderson has seemingly fixed his broken jumpshot

What kind of devil magic are the Warriors working with over there?

Will Ragatz

Oct 13, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kyle Anderson (1) dribbles the basketball against Detroit Pistons forward Ron Holland II (00) during the third quarter at Chase Center.
Oct 13, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kyle Anderson (1) dribbles the basketball against Detroit Pistons forward Ron Holland II (00) during the third quarter at Chase Center. / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
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Former Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson landed with the Warriors this offseason and has already seemingly fixed his broken jumpshot.

Anderson, who wound up in Golden State on a three-year, $27 million deal via a sign-and-trade this summer, is 5 for 9 from three-point range in the Warriors' first five preseason games this month. He went 2 for 3 from deep in a 10-point, +22 performance against the Lakers on Tuesday night, after previously going 2 for 3 from deep against the Kings last Friday.

It doesn't seem like a total fluke, either; Anderson's shot legitimately looks much better than it did last year. The slow, clunky hitch is gone:

Compare that to his shot from last season with the Timberwolves, which took much more time to release and just never looked good:

Anderson, who turned 31 last month and is entering his 11th NBA season, shot just 23 percent from deep last season for the Wolves (11 of 48). He was 2 for 8 in the playoffs. For the most part, he turned down even open looks from deep, which cratered Minnesota's spacing at times.

Back in 2022-23, his first season with the Wolves, Anderson actually shot a career-high 41 percent from deep on 105 attempts. He was very good that season as defender, rebounder, and secondary playmaker, starting 46 games and putting up three triple-doubles. But his effectiveness regressed last year in a bench role, which caused the Wolves to let him depart this offseason.

We'll see if it continues, but seeing Anderson fix his jumper now that he's with the Warriors has to leave Wolves fans thinking 'Um, couldn't you have done that a year ago?' Maybe it's a credit to someone on Golden State's coaching staff for helping Anderson finally make the change. Maybe he just didn't want to be embarrassed around Steph Curry (I'm kidding).

Anderson is expected to play an important role for the Warriors off the bench this season. If defenses have to respect him from beyond the three-point line, that would be a big deal in terms of his value. The Timberwolves have replaced him with a more proven shooter at PF in Joe Ingles, who may or may not be in their rotation early in the season.

The Wolves and Warriors will play four times this season, with three of them coming in a four-game span in December.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

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