Bucks look to increase 3-point field goals

The Milwaukee Bucks ranked last in the NBA last season in 3-pointers made and attempted per game.

Head coach Jason Kidd said those volume numbers will go up during the 2016-17 season.

Kidd said his team will shoot a lot more 3-pointers than it did in his first two seasons as the Bucks' coach. Milwaukee averaged 15.6 3-point attempts last season and made 5.4 per game. The team averaged 18.3 attempts two years ago and made 6.6 per game.

"We have guys who can make open shots, so that helps," Kidd said via Bucks.com. "We're going to shoot a lot more 3s than we have probably in the first two years."

Milwaukee tied for 22nd in 3-point shooting percentage (34.5) last season, which could explain some of the team's reticence at shooting from long range. The Bucks ranked seventh in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage in 2014-15 but still attempted about four 3-pointers a game below the league average.

Bucks 3-point attempts over last two years

Despite losing Khris Middleton long-term with an injury, Milwaukee should have the pieces to increase their volume and makes from behind the 3-point line. The team signed Mirza Teletovic and Matthew Dellavedova this offseason, both of whom shot better than 40 percent from 3-point range last year. Over his careers, Teletovic attempts 61.3 percent of his shots from 3 while Dellavedova is at 50.4 percent.

The Bucks also signed veteran Jason Terry, who has a career 37.9 percentage from 3-point range, and traded for Michael Beasley, who has a career 34.3 3-point percentage.

Terry has become more of a 3-point shooter the last three seasons. While in his career only 37.7 percent of his field-goal attempts are from 3, the past three seasons those percentages have been 67.8, 72.4 and 69.4 percent.

In total, the new acquisitions give Milwaukee six veteran players who made at least one-third of their 3-point attempts last year.

Steve Novak, who played only three games for the Bucks in 2015-16, returns. He has made 43.8 percent of his 3-point attempts in his career and he likes to shoot from downtown, with 77.8 percent of his shots coming from 3. Rookie second-round pick Malcolm Brodgon made 39.6 percent of his attempts as a senior at Virginia.

Bucks players 3-point percentages 2015-16

It remains to be seen how successful the Bucks will be with this 3-pointer push. But Kidd certainly appears to have the pieces in place to make it work.

Statistics courtesy basketball-reference.com and nba.com