Report: Russell Westbrook tweaked his shooting form, which has resulted in catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage improving

As many Los Angeles Lakers fans know, star point guard Russell Westbrook struggled mightily to fit in with the team last season.

Much of that was due to his ineffectiveness from beyond the arc, as he only connected on 29.8 percent of his shots from downtown. Some of his struggles from deep even led to some other NBA players making fun of him.

The former league MVP has never been known to be a solid shooter from 3-point range, having made 30.5 percent of his shots from deep in his career.

It seems like he understands that he needs to get better in that aspect, as he reportedly made a small change to his shooting form this summer. That change has apparently led to higher shooting percentages on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers.

“Westbrook slightly refined his shooting form this summer, and sources say his catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage has been improved in workouts and scrimmages,” wrote The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick.

It makes sense that Westbrook made the change, as he will likely have the ball in his hands a lot less this coming season. If the former first-round pick wants to continue getting consistent playing time, he’s going to need to learn how to play better off the ball.

Making catch-and-shoot 3-pointers is, of course, a big part of playing off the ball, especially when a player has LeBron James on his team.

Westbrook has been putting in lots of work this offseason and shown off much of it on social media. If Westbrook were to shoot around 35 percent from deep this season, the Lakers would be a very scary team. It would open up lots of things on offense for James and Anthony Davis.

The clips are definitely encouraging signs, as it seems like Westbrook could end up starting for the Lakers in the regular season.

Many Lakers fans have been clamoring for Patrick Beverley to replace Westbrook in the starting lineup, but it looks as though head coach Darvin Ham is confident that Westbrook will be able to flourish with the team’s first unit.

All offseason long, Ham has been talking up Westbrook and expressing confidence that he can put the nine-time All-Star in places to succeed this season.

Ham’s comments might just be wishful thinking, but fans will soon get a real chance to see if the University of California, Los Angeles product can be effective for the Lakers during the 2022-23 season.

Los Angeles has its first preseason game scheduled for Monday night against the Sacramento Kings.