Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr.
will likely be tasked with being one of the primary offensive engines for the Nets following last season when he came close to being a first-time All-Star. Brooklyn relied on Porter's ability to hit tough shots, especially within an offense that depended on some of the younger players making plays for him, but it's possible that Julius Randle could be the missing piece."According to tracking data, only 9% of Porter’s 3-point attempts were wide open last season. That was down from 20% with Denver in 2024-25 and was the lowest rate, by a wide margin, among 307 players with at least 100 total 3-point attempts," John Schuhmann wrote of Porter for NBA.com. Schuhmann makes the point that Randle could help Porter be
more efficient by getting a higher percentage of his shots to be of the open variety.
"Randle isn’t on Nikola Jokic’s level when it comes to passing, but he ranks fourth (behind Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Dončić) in total assists on 3-pointers over the last seven years," Schuhmann continued. "He should get Porter some more open looks and, along with his own scoring, make the Nets a more efficient offensive team."
Porter and Randle are both coming off a 2025-26 campaign where they scored at least 20 points per game and this season will be interesting to see how both of them will play with each other. In their first preseason action together in Tuesday's 124-90 win at the Charlotte Hornets, Porter and Randle both scored at least 13 points and it seemed like both of them had a basic level of chemistry in their limited time on the floor.
"They scored 1.5 fewer points per 100 possessions than any other team last season, when they were the only team that ranked in the bottom five in field goal percentage in the paint (55.3%, 30th), mid-range field goal percentage (37.1%, 28th) and 3-point percentage (34.0%, 30th)," Schuhmann wrote on Brooklyn's offense. Head coach Jordi Fernandez should be able to find a way to maximize the skillsets of Porter and Randle and it's possible that one of those ways could be Porter getting more open shots within the offense.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Could Nets' Michael Porter Jr. get more open shots with Julius Randle?
