It’s awards season in the NBA, but something has always irked me about the current ensemble of NBA trophies. Shooting is the most important skill in basketball, but it’s ignored by the league’s official end-of-season awards. Baseball has its batting champions, Cy Young winners, Silver Sluggers, and Gold Gloves—these awards celebrate specific forms of greatness. We need the same thing for hoops, particularly for scoring the ball. Some players are elite corner 3 snipers but can’t finish at the rack, while the league’s best floater specialists may not be great stepback artisans. Let’s take a spin around the league and celebrate this season’s best shooters in different categories. Welcome to the 2025 Curry Awards.
The Wardell Award for Best Shooter of the Year: Steph Curry
This category is more competitive than ever. Shooting has become far and away the most coveted skill in the NBA, and every roster is now chock-full of guys who shoot hundreds of 3-pointers every season. This just makes it all the more impressive that Stephen Curry is still so clearly the world’s greatest shooter.
There’s no single metric that can identify the best shooter in the NBA, but when you combine volume, shot quality, and efficiency stats, a few familiar names always rise to the top of the charts. Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, and Curry have been in this discussion for a decade or more now, but new candidates keep emerging. Younger players like Devin Booker, Payton Pritchard, Malik Beasley, and Tyrese Haliburton are entering the chat.
Still, one dude remains head and shoulders above the fray—just ask French people, who watched Curry’s legendary barrage of face-melting jumpers put an end to Team France’s gold medal hopes in Paris last summer. The “Golden Dagger” was one of the finest moments in an amazing career, but it also set the stage for another great shooting season in the NBA. In year 16, at age 37, Curry might be past his prime, but he still owns the most dangerous jumper in the world.
In over 1,200 total games this season, there have been just two instances of a single player making more than 10 3s in a game. Curry owns both of them. Earlier this month, he hit 12 3s in a big win over Memphis, and back in February, he drained 11 triples against the Magic. Fifteen years ago, games like this would’ve been unprecedented. Now they aren’t, in large part because Curry has upended basketball precedent. He’s single-handedly changed our understanding of what is possible for jump shooters. That’s why we named this set of awards after him.
This isn’t his best season, but even a relatively down shooting year from Curry is better than a regular year from everyone else. Nobody can touch his ability to blend shot creation and shotmaking from downtown. Oh, and he’s also the league’s best free throw shooter, converting a cool 93.3 percent of his freebies this season. Not bad.
The Kobe Bryant Award for Best Tough Shotmaker: Kevin Durant
Durant is unguardable. We’ve known that for years, but if there’s one way to tease out his brilliance as a shooter, it's by looking at his shooting stats relative to expectations. This dude takes impossible shots that would get normal NBA players benched. He dribbles into the midrange and pulls up in his man’s face before rising straight up and calmly shooting over them like it’s a shootaround.
On the spreadsheets, these actions are measured by “shot quality” metrics—estimated expectation numbers that try to gauge the value of every shot in the NBA based on factors like shot location, defender distance, player movement, and whether the shot was off the bounce or off the catch. These models all suggest Durant has terrible shot quality. But there are no bad shots for this guy—he breaks the math.
Out of 104 players who took at least 400 jumpers this season, Durant’s shot quality ranked 100th, but his overall jump shooting ranked 11th. The difference between his actual efficiency and his expected efficiency based on his shot diet is by far the biggest in the NBA.
In plain English: Durant is one of the most efficient shooters in the league despite the fact that he takes some of the most difficult shots. Easy money.
The James Harden Award for Best Stepback 3: Anthony Edwards
The stepback 3 continues to increase in popularity, but this shot remains too difficult for a vast majority of NBA players. Leaguewide, stepback 3s go in less than 33 percent of the time, and the few who can make them at higher rates have become very powerful offensive players. Both James Harden and Luka Doncic have fueled scoring-title seasons with this shot; HOWEVAH, there’s a new stepback sheriff in town, and his name is Anthony Edwards.
Minnesota’s 23-year-old superstar made a leap beyond the arc this season, and his ability to create his own 3-pointers is a major reason why. His athleticism and talent are already well-documented, but let me tell you something you didn’t know about Edwards: He just became the first person in the player-tracking era (and likely NBA history) to make at least 100 stepback 3s while also converting over 40 percent of his tries. Neither Harden nor Doncic has ever done this, and those dudes are the masters of the genre.
Like it or not, Edwards is becoming one of the sport’s premier long-range scorers. A year ago, he converted 36 percent of his 6.7 3s per game; this year, he’s made 40 percent of 10.3 3s per game. That’s not just a massive improvement; that combo of volume and efficiency from downtown is historical stuff. There have been only nine instances of a player hitting more than 39 percent of their 3s while also accumulating more than 300 made triples in a single season. Stephen Curry owns six of them. Klay has one. Edwards and Malik Beasley both did it this year. And when you factor in Edwards’s age and his complementary ability to finish at the rim, this young man will be a problem for years to come.
The Tony Parker Award for Best Floater: Tyler Herro
The floater has slowly replaced the pull-up jumper as the go-to weapon for driving guards looking to score in the midrange areas. This season, no player has mastered the soft, gravitational art of the teardrop more than Herro. Reliable runners around the free throw line have been a big part of his breakout season in Miami. The floater has always been in Herro’s bag, but steadily it’s become more central; this year, Herro has set career marks in floaters made and attempted, as well as in efficiency in the category.
Along with Jaren Jackson Jr., Trae Young, and Jalen Brunson, Herro is one of just four players to convert at least 100 floaters this season, and among the top 10 most active shooters in this category, Herro is the most efficient, sinking over 54 percent of his attempts. All this adds up to a basic fact: At 25, Herro has become one of the few young scorers who can find efficient offense in between the rim and the 3-point line. Float on, Tyler.
The Kyle Korver Award for Best Catch-and-Shoot Specialist: Malik Beasley
Coming into this season, only two players in league history had ever made more than 305 3-pointers in a single season: Stephen Curry and James Harden. Well, add Edwards and Beasley to that list. Both players had massive years from downtown, and both are gonna win Curry Awards this season, but while Edwards created his volume with unassisted jumpers, Beasley perfected the catch-and-shoot game.
Detroit’s Sixth Man of the Year candidate leads all players in both catch-and-shoot attempts and makes, and his 43 percent conversion rate on these tries is downright elite.
How good has Beasley been for the Pistons? His 248 made catch-and-shoot triples this season are the most we’ve seen in the entire player tracking era, surpassing Klay Thompson’s 245 makes way back in the 2016-17 season. Simply put, this is among the best perimeter shooting seasons we’ve ever seen, and it’s a huge reason why Detroit basketball is back on the map.
The Trae Young Award for Best Deep 3-Point Shooter: Darius Garland
Garland has got range, folks. For this category, I looked at 3-pointers at least 3 feet beyond the actual 3-point line, and among the 59 players who launched at least 100 triples from deep space, Garland and Zach LaVine essentially tied for first by converting a ridiculous 42.3 percent of their deep tries. I gave the edge to Garland because he was more active, but LaVine deserves some shine, too. Both guys narrowly edged out Kristaps Porzingis, who is just fractions of a point behind. Steph Curry is at 35.9 percent. Trae Young is down at 31 percent.
Cleveland’s young star is simply one of the best shooters in the league right now. This season, he’s flirting with 50/40/90 splits while averaging over 20 points per contest, and his ability to shoot from long distances is especially impressive and valuable for a Cleveland squad that hopes he can make big jumpers deep into June.
The Big Diesel Award for Best Finisher: Giannis Antetokounmpo
When most people think of “shooting,” they don’t consider layups and dunks as part of the equation. But the league’s official scorekeepers do, and close-range attempts are the most important shot types in pro hoops. That means players who can get and convert these shots at high rates are among the most valuable in the NBA.
As proof, this year’s leaderboard of points per game on layups and dunks is a who’s who of All-Star big men capable of overpowering some of the most talented interior defenders in the world. LeBron James ranks 10th. Anthony Davis ranks sixth. Nikola Jokic ranks third. Zion Williamson is a distant second.
But Antetokounmpo is far and away the best finisher in the NBA right now. It’s not cute stuff. He doesn’t step back like Harden. He doesn’t use English like Kyrie Irving or Stephen Curry. He uses muscle, ferocious determination, and length. It’s a basketball tradition unlike any other. Giannis is carrying the torch for Wilt, Moses, and Shaq deep into the 2020s. Milwaukee’s MVP is averaging a staggering 18.7 PPG on layups and dunks alone—that’s more PPG than Tyrese Haliburton is averaging overall! (Zion ranks second at 16.3; Jokic is a distant third at 12.0.)
Giannis leads the league in points in the paint for the second year in a row, and he remains the NBA’s most prolific paint scorer since O’Neal was wearing purple and gold. The Bucks’ roster might not be built for a title this year, but Giannis is capable of beating anyone at any time—just ask the Thunder, who had no answer for the Greek interior minister as Milwaukee scorched OKC to win the NBA Cup earlier this season.
The Dirk Nowitzki Award for Best Big Man Shooter: Nikola Jokic
A few years ago, Karl-Anthony Towns claimed to be the best shooting big man of all time. Not only is that hurtful Dirk Nowitzki erasure, but it’s also insulting to Denver’s MVP, who is simply a better shooter right now than Towns. Sorry, KAT. Among many other things, Nikola Jokic is the most efficient jump shooting center in the NBA, and the numbers prove it.
This season, Towns has attempted 408 jumpers, and an average one has yielded an impressive 1.13 points. Meanwhile, Jokic has tried 409 jumpers, and they’ve yielded 1.27 points per shot. Same volume, wildly different efficiency numbers—and it’s not even close. This isn’t to single out Towns, who is hardly alone. Among the 98 players who tried at least 400 jumpers this season, nobody can hold a candle to Jokic’s 1.27 PPS. Not even Curry or Durant. Jokic is not just the most efficient big man jump shooter; he’s the most efficient volume jump shooter in the whole damn Association. How do you say absurd in Serbian? Апсурдно. This dude is aпсурдно.
The Michael Jordan Award for Best Midrange Shooter: Kevin Durant
It’s been a tumultuous season in the desert, but the Suns’ 2024-25 roster includes the two best midrange scorers in the league. Durant and Devin Booker are among the NBA’s most talented bucket-getters, and both stars thrive in between the paint and the arc. Among the 50 most active midrange shooters this season, Durant and Booker are the only two that converted more than half of their tries.
Ultimately, the nod here goes to KD, who’s taking home his second Curry Award this year. Durant was a hair more efficient than Booker, despite being more active and taking slightly harder attempts. Many questions swirl around Durant’s future in Phoenix, but one thing remains clear: Wherever this dude plays, he brings the world’s best midrange bag with him. KD is the best 2-point jump shooter on the planet. Just look at this shot chart.
The Dame Lillard Award for Best Rookie Shooter: Dalton Knecht
Knecht has had an unforgettable rookie season filled with highs, lows, and a whirlwind trade fiasco that saw him briefly leave Lakerland for Hornetville. Through it all, the Lakers’ 23-year-old has put up the best 3-point numbers among his rookie cohort. Knecht ranks third in his class in total 3s made, but his conversion rate from downtown—37.6 percent—is outstanding for any rookie. He’s caught fire a few times this season; in a November win over Utah, he hit nine 3s. While Knecht may or may not be a big part of the Lakers’ playoff rotations, his sharpshooting from downtown is a valuable option for coach JJ Redick—and will keep him in this league for a while.
The Bruce Bowen Award for Best Corner 3 Shooter: Harrison Barnes
Corner 3s now represent 1 in 9 shots in the NBA. What started in San Antonio with Bruce Bowen in the early 2000s has become fundamental to every offense, but the Spurs once again have one of the Association’s most dependable corner 3-point shooters.
This season, Harrison Barnes has quietly led the NBA in corner 3s made, at 101. That’s not all; among the league’s 50 most active cornermen, Barnes also ranked fifth in conversion rate, sinking over 48 percent of chances from this vital area.
The Kawhi Leonard Award for Most Improved Shooter: Jordan Poole
Improving as a jump shooter is the most vital player development task in the modern NBA. Some players and teams are better at it than others, but it is the swing skill that can make or break entire careers—Kawhi Leonard and Lu Dort offer proof. Unfortunately, so does André Roberson. In a make-or-miss league, it’s now almost impossible to get big dollars without a good jumper.
For this category, I looked at the 44 players in the NBA who attempted at least 500 jumpers last season and this season and then compared their key markers.
Three players jumped off the page. Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama both have superstar futures, and both rank in the top three in this category, which is great news for the Wolves and Spurs. However, no jump shooter improved more than Jordan Poole. Last season, an average Poole jumper yielded just 0.95 points, one of the lowest figures for any volume shooter. This year? That number is 1.10. If decimals aren’t your thing, just know this: That’s better than players like Klay Thompson, Buddy Hield, and Jamal Murray.
A season ago, Poole ranked 56th in efficiency out of 59 players who took at least 500 jumpers. This season, he ranks 17th out of 60. I hope you got off your best Poole jokes last season, because if he keeps this up, you’ll need to find a new slant.
