Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says new ball is impacting shooting

The Dallas Mavericks are shooting just 33.3 percent from 3-point range so far this season. They added two quality shooters in the offseason, but their shooting is still down from 36.2 percent last year. Superstar Luka Doncic, Reggie Bullock, and Sterling Brown are all hitting under 31 percent from 3-point range as the Mavs shooting struggles persist. Bullock shot 41.0 percent from three last season, and he has yet to crack 30 this year.

Shooting is down league-wide with a plethora of factors causing the dip. The NBA made a rule change to eliminate abnormal movement on shots, which has been an adjustment for the players. Crowds are back in arenas, and that too impacts shooting.

One underrated aspect in the decline remains the league switching ball manufacturers this season. The new Wilson ball is an adjustment. Mavs owner Mark Cuban shared his thoughts on the new ball and its impacts on Sunday afternoon to Tim Cato.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks new ball is impacting shooting

Fans should read Cuban’s quotes for the full context, but he talks about the grooves in the ball being different, and how they are not impacting players with different shot in the same way. The Mavs owner even noted that the new ball is messing with his shot when he is shooting around.

The players are still in that adjustment period with the new ball. Fans have already seen some of the top players breaking out of their early-season struggles and starting to see the ball go in the basket again. Everyone will get used to the ball and the percentages should revert to the mean.

Cuban’s claim about players with lower shot arcs being impacted more certainly caught my eye. It will be interesting to see if it takes those players longer to figure things out. The regular season is already 20 percent in the books, so how long before players get used to the new ball? It could take some time, but shooting will bounce back.