Where does a 19-year-old guard actually shoot from?

Darius Acuff Jr., 19, Sacramento Kings. One preseason game tracked — his debut against the Lakers — 17 field goal attempts mapped. Small sample, stated up front: a single preseason game, soft defenses, 17 shots is a snapshot, not a profile. But snapshots are where profiles start.

The map: 7 of his 17 attempts came from mid range, and he made 4 of them (57.1%). Every other zone sits under 5 attempts — restricted area 4, paint 2, corner three 1, above the break 3 — so the chart stays grey there. No conclusions drawn from noise.

What that suggests: a guard who lives in the in-between game. In an era that punishes mid range shots, 57 percent on 7 attempts is a flag worth tracking, not a verdict. The question for the regular season: does the volume hold when the attempts triple?

That is the idea behind this letter. One question, the data with its limits stated up front, one chart. No roundups, no invented percentiles.

See you in two weeks.

Originally published on Substack