Blake Griffin and 5 NBA Players Who Desperately Need a Jump Shot

It's sort of frustrating.

There are players in the NBA who have the physical gifts and athletic tools to simply dominate on both ends of the floor.

They fill up the stat sheet with outstanding numbers and are so much fun to watch on a nightly basis because of their effort and highlight plays.

Everyone has things they can and can't do, but I'm going to focus on a glaring offensive weakness in several prevalent NBA players. My list consists of some of the best finishers and playmakers in the NBA today and is in no way a knock on their games.

But all these guys all have one thing in common that keeps them from being dominant on offense: a consistent jump shot.

This list will go through the top five players in the NBA right now who are most in need of a consistent jump shot to truly make their respective teams and their already spectacular games complete.

Tyreke Evans

Just two years ago, Tyreke Evans was the Rookie of the Year and had many talking about resurgence in Sacramento.

Now, he has lost his starting point guard role and is essentially playing small forward.

Although he is a beast in transition, teams are packing the paint against him in the half-court due to his broken jump shot.

Evans is having a terrific season, averaging five assists and five boards to go along with 17 points per game, but he has to work entirely too hard to get his points and does too much to try to create opportunities for others.

An addition of a consistent mid-range jump shot in favor of three-pointers (Evans is shooting a career-low 22 percent from long range this season) would drastically improve his already tremendous game and open up more opportunities for himself and his teammates.

John Wall

If any player in the NBA deserves better, it's John Wall.

The kid plays harder than anyone and has the stats to prove it.

He is relevant in nearly every statistical category, averaging around 18 points, eight assists, five rebounds, a steal and a block per game.

His field-goal percentage has risen from his rookie campaign, but his three-point percentage has all but gone down the drain (Wall has made only two of 22 long-range attempts this season), and his jump shot has been streaky at best.

John Wall has drawn comparisons to previous John Calipari-coached point guards Evans and Derrick Rose for his freakish athleticism, speed and strength, but similar to his predecessors, Wall's inability to hit a consistent mid-range jump shot has always been heavily criticized.

Evans' shot hasn't really improved during his three-year NBA career. Rose, however, has really improved his shooting and has become very good from mid-range. He even expanded his range to the three-point line on his way to winning the league MVP last year, leading the Chicago Bulls to the NBA's best record.

Many are predicting Wall to become an MVP candidate and a perennial All-Star in later years, but first he's going to have to start winning games and consistently knocking down that 13- to 17-footer.

Josh Smith

The poor man's LeBron James, Josh Smith had plenty of upside and potential but little skill when he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks straight out of high school in 2004.

The former slam-dunk champion has gone from simply just a "dunker" and a "shot-blocker" to developing into the best overall player on a playoff team.

Right now, Josh Smith is in the midst of a career year and was perhaps the most prevalent All-Star snub, averaging almost 17 points along with about 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals per game.

Smith believes the NBA stands for "Nothing But Associates," but he's got to realize that his inconsistency from game to game has been staggering.

The main reason for his inconsistency is the fact that his jump shot is not steady and he shoots only 57 percent from the foul line. Smith has developed some moves in the post and is a superb finisher in transition, but a mid-range jump shot is the one weapon that eludes him.

Smith has always tried to extend his range to the three-point line with little production, and listening to the Philips Arena faithful groan nervously when Smith goes into his shooting motion proves that he should simply just move inside and develop that 13- to 17-footer.

"J-Smoove" built the "Highlight Factory," but I think anybody who is a fan of this guy knows that a consistent mid-range jumper would send him into the stratosphere.

Rajon Rondo

Oh boy.

When Kobe Bryant was guarding this guy effectively from the free-throw line in the 2010 NBA Finals, I was done.

Rajon Rondo has the ability to be one of the greatest point guards to ever live.

You heard me.

The kid has it all.

No one has the games he's been having by accident. The guy's had two of the most prolific games not only of this era, but of the past 20 years. The only people you can mention alongside him are Jason Kidd, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.

But there are two glaring flaws in his game: free-throw shooting and mid-range shooting.

Although Ray Allen played poorly in the 2010 NBA Finals, Rondo shot only 19 free throws during the series and seemed to shy away from the basket at times.

Why?

He's a poor foul-shooter.

Rondo made only five of his 19 free-throw attempts in the NBA Finals—inexcusable for a point guard, let alone a guard of his level of skill.

Rondo has a career field-goal percentage of nearly 49 percent, which is outstanding for a point guard, but his free-throw shooting is absolutely dismal to the point where I question if he really thinks he should refine the areas of his game where he fails.

Rondo is a once-in-a-generation player with the ability to defend his counterpart, run the fast break and pick-and-roll to perfection and use his ability to spread the floor to make plays for his teammates.

Jason Kidd was once called "Ason" because he had no "J," but he became one of the most prolific three-point shooters of all time.

Imagine how much more Rondo could accomplish with a consistent jumper.

Scary, isn't it?

Blake Griffin

I'm not hating on Blake Griffin.

He is one of the most gifted and skilled power forwards in the league and has a motor like no other man walking the planet.

The guy is a two-time All-Star and quite possibly is the reason that the Clippers are relevant championship contenders this year.

But every other elite power forward in his conference has one thing he doesn't: a jump shot.

The reason you fear a Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, David Lee, Kevin Love or Zach Randolph is because not only can he kill you in the interior, but he can step out and knock down that free-throw-line jumper.

Blake Griffin, you are not going to be able to jump over everyone your whole career.

You need a jump shot as soon as possible.

Now, I believe Griffin has the ability to be better than all of the power forwards I mentioned.

He is freakishly athletic, has a nose for the ball and simply refuses to say die on either end of the court.

People always talk about how good his form is and how he might become a deadly three-point shooter. But for someone with such a good form, his free-throw percentage is surprisingly terrible.

Why?

There is no reason for someone who is as talented as this guy is, and who gets fouled as often as he does, to shoot such a terrible percentage from the free-throw line.

And why in the world should Blake Griffin be shooting three-pointers? I don't know why every fan and analyst who has seen Dirk Nowitzki or Mehmet Okur play thinks that automatically any big man with decent form can shoot three-pointers.

It's hard.

Even the greatest of shooters find it difficult to consistently knock down the long ball every night.

Why do you think three-point percentages are so low?

But I digress—Griffin needs to study his fellow Western Conference power forwards and realize that a mid-range jumper opens up a lot for you.

Griffin wouldn't have to work as hard to score, and he would become much more of a threat offensively. If Griffin developed a consistent shot from 13 to 17 feet, he would literally become unguardable at the power forward position with his uncanny speed and athleticism.

If the way he got his career-high 47 points during his rookie season last year at home against Indiana is any indication, he doesn't need to dunk to become a dominant offensive power.

I wouldn't mind seeing it, though.