Ranking Ray Allen Among 10 Best Sharpshooters to Play with LeBron James

Surrounding LeBron James with effective sharpshooters is the ultimate recipe for success.

The spacing his teammates are able to provide by scoring from the perimeter is all the room that LeBron needs to dominate offensively.

Throughout his career, three-point shooters have been acquired to play alongside James in hopes of maximizing these opportunities.

The Cleveland Cavaliers traded for players like Wally Szczerbiak while signing free agents Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall.The Miami Heat have employed teammates Mario Chalmers, Mike Miller and James Jones ever since LeBron's arrival on South Beach.

This season, however, James is playing with a better collection of sharpshooters than he ever has in his career. Ray Allen, the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history, is the biggest reason why.

No. 10: Mario Chalmers

Seasons as LeBron's Teammate: 2010-current

Regular Season Games Played w/ James: 134 games

Three-pointers Made: 184

Three-Point Field Goal Percentages per Season: 36 percent, 39 percent

Career Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: 36 percent

Mario Chalmers is coming off a season where he shot nearly 40 percent from three-point range. If he is able to crack that number over the next couple years consistently, he will move up this list.

Chalmers has always hit clutch threes throughout his career too and expects to do so moving forward. 

No. 9: Shane Battier

Seasons as LeBron's Teammate: 2011-current

Regular Season Games Played w/ James: 65

Three-pointers Made: 62

Three-Point Field Goal Percentages per Season: 34 percent

Career Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: 38.1 percent

Last season was the first one that Shane Battier played with LeBron James. He connected on almost one three-pointer per game as a member of the Miami Heat and should improve on that this season.

The more Battier becomes comfortable playing with James, the closer his three-point field goal percentage should be to his career number for that category. 

No. 8: Wally Szczerbiak

Seasons as LeBron's Teammate: 2007-2009

Regular Season Games Played w/ James: 99

Three-pointers Made: 88

Three-Point Field Goal Percentages per Season: 37 percent, 41 percent

Career Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: 40.6 percent

Wally Szczerbiak played out his final two seasons in the NBA with LeBron James as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He didn't connect on the volume of three-point field goals during those seasons that he usually did, but defenders had to respect his sharp-shooting reputation. 

Szczerbiak shot over 40 percent from three for his career. If he was on the floor, defenses had to make sure he was accounted for out on the perimeter.

No. 7: Donyell Marshall

Seasons as LeBron's Teammate: 2005-2008

Regular Season Games Played w/ James: 173

Three-pointers Made: 228

Three-Point Field Goal Percentages per Season: 32.4, 35.1 percent

Career Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: 35 percent

Donyell Marshall was a critical bench player on the Cavaliers team that LeBron led to the 2007 NBA Finals.

He wasn't the most efficient three-point marksman in the game those years, but he did make over one three-point field goal per game during each of the two full seasons he played with James. 

No. 6: Damon Jones

Seasons as LeBron's Teammate: 2005-2008

Regular Season Games Played w/ James: 209

Three-pointers Made: 344

Three-Point Field Goal Percentages per Season: 38, 38 and 42 percent

Career Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: 39 percent

Damon Jones once called himself the best shooter in the world. He was never that, but he was pretty effective from long-range while playing with LeBron in Cleveland.

He connected on a whole bunch of threes as a member of the Cavaliers. None bigger than the one he hit to beat the Washington Wizards in the 2006 playoffs.

No. 5: Mike Miller

Seasons as LeBron's Teammate: 2010-current

Regular Season Games Played w/ James: 80

Three-pointers Made: 96

Three-Point Field Goal Percentages per Season: 36 and 45 percent

Career Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: 40.5 percent

If Mike Miller can stay healthy for all of this season, he could challenge for the top spot on this list eventually. He showed that much in the games he did play last year with LeBron, connecting on just over 45 percent of his threes.

No. 4: Mo Williams

Seasons as LeBron's Teammate: 2008-10

Regular Season Games Played w/ James: 186

Three-pointers Made: 342

Three-Point Field Goal Percentages per Season: 42 and 43 percent

Career Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: 38.6 percent

Mo Williams had two of the best sharpshooting seasons of anyone to ever play alongside LeBron as his teammate in Cleveland.

Williams shot over 42 percent from three in each of the two full seasons he played with LeBron, connecting on over 340 regular-season three-point field goals in the process.

No. 3: James Jones

Seasons as LeBron's Teammate: 2010-current

Regular Season Games Played w/ James: 132

Three-pointers Made: 169

Three-Point Field Goal Percentages per Season: 43 and 40 percent

Career Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: 40.2 percent

James Jones moves past Mo Williams on this list based on his overall consistency. He is a 40 percent career shooter from three and did just better than that as LeBron's teammate during two seasons.

Jones didn't play near the minutes that Williams did with James, but still averaged over one made field goal from deep per regular-season game played.

No. 2: Daniel Gibson

Seasons as LeBron's Teammate: 2006-10

Regular Season Games Played w/ James: 249

Three-pointers Made: 349

Three-Point Field Goal Percentages per Season: 42, 44, 38 and 47 percent

Career Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: 41.7 percent

Daniel Gibson broke into the NBA as a sharpshooting threat alongside LeBron James. He hit over 41 percent from three on his career, with four of those seasons coming as LeBron's teammate. 

The 47 percent mark during LeBron's last season in Cleveland is the highest single-season number of any teammate in James' career.

The 44 percent during Gibson's second year is also the second highest three-point percentage anyone has averaged after that. 

No. 1: Ray Allen

As soon as Ray Allen joined LeBron in Miami, he became the best sharpshooter James had ever played with.

The reason for that is because Ray Allen is simply the best sharpshooter that anybody in the NBA has ever played with.

Where Rashard Lewis may need a full season to get onto this list, Allen's 2,734 threes made for his career heading into his this season move him into the top spot immediately.

Allen posted his two highest three-point field goal percentages these last two seasons too, shooting 45.3 and 44.4 percent, respectively.

This season looks to be even higher for the player who's shot over 40 percent for his entire career.