Footage released of Koa Peat’s new controversial jump shot form as decision deadline is days away
The new form sees Peat with a much lower shot pocket and is also much less fluid and has a bit of a hesitancy to it.
Watch: Who is the Arizona Diamondbacks' biggest threat for the NL Wild Card? | 33 mins
Footage was released of Koa Peat’s new controversial jump shot form Friday, as the Arizona forward’s draft stock has taken a tumble after switching his mechanics.
Following Arizona’s run to the Final Four, where Peat averaged 17.2 points on 48.5% shooting during the NCAA Tournament, the star forward reportedly hired Chris Johnson as a shooting coach and changed his jump shot mechanics prior to this month’s NBA draft combine.
The new form sees Peat with a much lower shot pocket, which while generating more arc, is much easier for even mid-size defenders to block. Peat’s new shot is also much less fluid and has a bit of a hesitancy to it.
Freshman 6’8 Koa Peat Klutch Pro day in front of NBA teams at Lakers Practice Facility 🔥 Koa was one of the best winners and mid range scorers in college basketball as a freshman pic.twitter.com/zydd25WglN
— Jordan Richard (@JordanRichardSC) May 22, 2026
Criticism of Peat’s shooting form is nothing new, but that disapproval during the season mainly stemmed from a lack of arc to Peat’s shot, which the 6-foot-8 player has obviously taken to heart.
Peat took only a total of 20 3-pointers during the collegiate season and made seven of them (35%). The lack of a long-range stroke with upside has been one of the knocks of his game translating to the next level.
View this post on Instagram
Peat reportedly “bombed” Tuesday’s Klutch pro day, according to AZ12’s Mike Luke and struggled during the May 11 NBA draft combine as well. No footage of Peat’s new shot was released from either the combine or from Klutch’s pro day prior to Friday.
At the NBA draft combine, Peat shot 6 of 25 (24%) in the spot-up shooting drill, 7 of 25 (28%) in the 3-point star drill, 10 of 25 (40%) in the side-mid-side drill, 15 of 30 (50%) in the off-the-dribble drill and 7 of 10 (70%) at the foul line.
Peat was required to shoot at the combine as mandated by the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
Entering the season as the No. 11 recruit in the country, Peat was initially projected as a lottery pick (Nos. 1-14) after he scored 30 points in the season-opening win over Florida. But his draft stock fell during the season as other power forwards emerged into stardom and Peat did not demonstrate an ability to shoot from deep.
Peat has been projected as a late first-rounder in most post-combine mock drafts and has even been mocked in the second round in some mock drafts, such as Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor’s from Monday.
Peat has until May 27 to decide whether to keep his name in the NBA draft or return to Arizona for his sophomore season.
Related
Tommy Lloyd says Koa Peat is 'working through a plan' as NBA pre-draft process escalates
Arizona's Koa Peat just inside 1st round of Jeremy Woo mock draft
Koa Peat falls to 30th in NBA mock draft after poor combine showing
Koa Peat's shooting at the NBA Draft Combine confirms his flaws. What can he be?
Arizona Wildcats announce 2026-27 men’s basketball nonconference schedule
Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd not interested in NBA after UNC interest
Comments
3 Comments
Peat obviously has a huge decision to make, and whatever it is, I wish him luck, but he should stay a Wildcat. Keep waving that UofPay flag DC . . . And remember: There is now NIL, and ALL schools pay their players.
That video should seal it in the minds of Koa Peat, his family and his Agent. He needs to withdraw from the NBA draft, return to the UofPay and spend the next 12 months finding another shooting motion (because the one on the video is not it). Once found, he can work on improving the mechanics of that shot and, more importantly, raise his shooting percentage from both mid-range and 3. His addition immediately increases the UofPay's chances of making a serious run in the dance. If he's successful and I see no reason why she shouldn't/ wouldn't be, he'll raise his draft stock significantly and earn himself a ton of money in the process.
Don’t get why he’s doing this🤷🏽Perfect the current form. Don’t change it. The window to commit a new form to the subconscious mind is closing.