Sam Merrill is enjoying the best year of his NBA career, but the story being told about his breakout campaign on the Cleveland Cavaliers is ignoring a big aspect of that leap. The incredible shooting is obvious. However, Merrill has proven to be a much more well-rounded scorer than given credit for.
In all fairness, it is easy to ignore other parts of his offensive game when the 3-point success has been as elite as it has. Merrill is pocketing 45.4 percent of his 7.3 attempts per game from beyond the arc. That conversion rate ranks fourth in the NBA, only trailing Luke Kennard, Bobby Portis, and Cavaliers teammate Jaylon Tyson.
45.4 percent from 3-point land is a career-best mark for Merrill, but so is what the Cavaliers guard is doing down low. The 29-year-old is shooting 86.2 percent on his shots from 0-3 feet in 2025-26. That is the highest he's had in the category for any season in which Merrill has taken at least 100 field goals.
Sam Merrill is more than just a shooter for the Cavaliers
In all fairness to everyone overlooking that metric, the vast majority of Merrill's offense does come from behind the 3-point line. The Cavaliers veteran shoots 79.7 percent of his overall attempts from deep. That makes it easy to miss what is happening with the other offensive areas.
By contrast, only about 7.9 percent of his field goals are taken from 0-3 feet. Those are two numbers on completely different ends of the spectrum. The uniting force is how well Merrill is scoring from both.
Being completely one-dimensional would not allow for the career high points per game from the Cavs guard. Merrill is registering 12.9 points a night for Cleveland as someone who is multi-faceted.
Opposing defenses are certainly going to be prioritizing containing him from distance. However, if forced to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket, Merrill is proving himself capable to give make defenders pay for overselling on a closeout.
Added little wrinkles like this one are exactly why the offseason payday for the Cavs' star in his role continues to age like fine wine. Merrill's average salary of $9.5 million continues to look like one of the best bargains in the NBA. That is especially true when remembering the value added on defense too.
Every championship contender has those role players that are impossible to separate from the team's success. For the Cavaliers, that is undoubtedly Merrill.