Does NCAA's top 3-point shooter (he's from Concord) have an NBA future?

Concord’s Connor Burchfield was the best in college basketball last season at a skill valued at every level of the sport.

Whether Burchfield can check enough other boxes to get the NBA interested is much more of a question.

Burchfield shot 52 percent from the college 3-point line, which led all Division I players in the NCAA, last season for William & Mary. That was a sufficient hook that the Charlotte Hornets invited him to be one of six players at a pre-draft workout Friday.

It was the 6-4 Burchfield’s first NBA audition and so far, no other team has extended him an invitation. He wasn’t one of 69 players chosen for last week’s draft combine in Chicago, and it would be a reach to expect him to be one of 60 players selected in the June 21 draft.

But maybe a team will see Burchfield as worth an invitation to a summer league roster. That would get him exposure, both to more NBA scouts and scouts for professional teams all over the world.

“I’m just trying to get my foot in the door, and that doesn’t end with the draft,” said Burchfield, who played at Concord High before William & Mary.

“Obviously, it starts with the emphasis the NBA places on 3-point shooting. And I think there’s a trickle-down effect from there. I would hope that raises my stock wherever it would be.”

All NBA teams search for additional 3-point shooting, both for the scoring it represents and how known 3-point shooters force opposing defenses to guard a wider area. As former Hornets coach Steve Clifford often said, in the NBA your shooting is your spacing.

3-point need

The Hornets were seventh among 30 NBA teams last season in 3-point percentage at 36.9 percent. But that’s a little misleading, because they were in the bottom third of the league in utilizing the 3: Twenty-third in 3-point frequency (33 percent of all shots) and dramatically different from the Houston Rockets, who take nearly 53 percent of their shots from the arc.

Burchfield was one of six players at Friday’s workout at the Hornets’ practice gym inside Spectrum Center. New general manager Mitch Kupchak and coach James Borrego was there, along with about 20 others from the team’s basketball operation.

Burchfield was the only Division I player (with sufficient attempts to qualify for rankings) who made at least half of his 3s last season. The 3 dominated his offensive game: Only 77 of his 248 shots in 31 games last season were not from outside the arc.

When William & Mary was in transition, he’d often serve as the “trailer,” sprinting to the arc to get a kick-out pass as defenders were drawn to the rim. And his reliability as a 3-point shooter made it harder for defenses to leave the perimeter to double-team big man Nathan Knight, who averaged 18. 5 points last season.

“At the college level I shot it so well that I kind of fell in love with shooting, rather than having impact in other areas.”

Combo guard

That’s where things will likely have to change for Burchfield to play professionally. He’s received feedback that he’d need to be a combo guard at the next level, playing at least part-time as a point guard.

“Getting comfortable with the ball in my hands and making plays,” Burchfield said of what he must improve.

Another issue, potentially could be the launch point of his shot. Smooth and fluid as he looked in Friday’s drill, his release point starts from beneath his chin. As he faces longer, more athletic defenders will that expose him to having the ball stolen or blocked?

“At the college level, anyway, I was able to get it off from there,” Burchfield said. "If that’s a transition a coach feels I have to make, I’d certainly make that transition.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2018 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Does NCAA's top 3-point shooter (he's from Concord) have an NBA future?."