Best Jazz/NBA shooters?

The Utah Jazz can claim bragging rights on three of the top 16 pure shooters in modern NBA history.

At least that’s according to a new method ESPN stat savant John Hollinger has concocted.

So, Jazz fans, who do you think those three sharpshooters with ties to Utah’s franchise are? (And keep in mind, they can be both current and former guys, but only during the 3-point era that began three decades ago.)

Are they:

A. John Stockton, Dell Curry and Mehmet Okur?
B. John Stockton, Jeff Hornacek and Kyle Korver?
C. Jeff Hornacek, Kyle Korver and Mo Williams?
D. Adrian Dantley, Jeff Hornacek and Darrell Griffith?
E. Jarron Collins, Greg Ostertag and John Amaechi?

(Can someone turn on the Jeopardy music?)

Don’t cheat.

OK, put your pencils down.

Test is over.

And the answer is ……

C, of course. It’s always C in multiple choices, right?

Per Hollinger’s “Combined Shooting Rating” – simply a combination of 2-point, 3-point and free throw percentages added up – this is where these current and former Jazz players rank all-time in the NBA:

5. Jeff Hornacek (CSR: 1.795 – 2s: .515; 3s: .403; FTs: .877)
15. Kyle Korver (CSR: 1.743 – 2s: .452; 3s: .409; FTs: .882)
16. Mo Williams (CSR: 1.726 – 2s: .467; 3s: .391; FTs: .868)

It surprised me a bit that John Stockton did not make his list, but the Hall of Fame point guard fell short in a couple of areas. For one thing, his career .384 3-point percentage was the same as No. 6 Chris Mullin’s, but Stockton “only” shot .826 on free throws. Free throws had to be higher for him to be considered compared to his 3-point percentage. The lowest FT percentage of the NBA’s all-time top 10 shooters was .858, by No. 10 Dana Barros.

For what it’s worth, though, Stockton’s CPR would have put him in at least the top 14 at 1.751 (2s: .5421; 3s: .384; FTs: .826) had he qualified.

Here are Hollinger’s Top 10 greatest shooters by this CSR method (along with other criteria, players had to have logged 10,000 career minutes):

1. Steve Nash
2. Steve Kerr
3. Reggie Miller
4. Mark Price
5. Jeff Hornacek
6. Chris Mullin
7. Peja Stojakovic
8. Larry Bird
9. Ray Allen
10. Dana Barros