“Hammer Screen”

Term: Hammer Screen

Definition: a weakside flare screen for a shooter to cut from the wing to the corner, while the ballhandler is driving baseline

Synonyms: N/A

See Also:

• Flare screen (an off-ball screen for a cutter to cut along the 3pt line, away from the ballhandler; hammer is a specific type of flare screen, which doesn’t necessarily happen on the weakside and doesn’t require the ballhandler to be driving baseline)
• Low Man: the screener’s defender, who can’t switch the screen because he’s the primary help defender responsible for rotating over and protecting the rim against dribble penetration

Origin of the Name: One of the most effective actions for a 3-point shot, the hammer screen is named after Darvin Ham, a small forward who made four 3-pointers in eight NBA seasons.

Out of players who have actions named after them, from Danilovic and Iverson cuts to Spanoulis and Korver screens, Darvin Ham is perhaps the only person who never used his namesake action. Ham neither set nor received hammer screens; he was the passer.

Three of Ham’s eight NBA seasons were with the Milwaukee Bucks under head coach George Karl. During a timeout, Karl drew up a play for Ham to get the ball in the midpost, drive baseline, and pass to the weakside corner for Ray Allen, who cut off what has come to be known as a hammer screen.

How It Works: In the diagram above — a classic hammer variation of the Pistol play called “21 Dribble”—1 drives baseline while 3 sets a hammer screen for 4 to cut to the weakside corner.

Why It Works: Hammer screens exploit the overarching principles of “no middle” and help defense (and unprincipled ball-watching). But unlike some actions that originated more than two decades ago, hammer screens have remained both popular and effective in the NBA, first with the San Antonio Spurs and now with the entire league. In many of the videos included in the “See More” section, the screen works despite the defensive bench calling out “hammer! hammer!”

As the defense rotates to contain dribble penetration (perhaps trapping the box), it is vulnerable on the weakside, often leaving one defender to guard two players. If the player in the corner isn’t a shooting threat, such as Bruno Fernando in the following clip, he can set a hammer screen for his teammate on the wing:

Hammers are difficult to switch for a few reasons. One, the screener’s defender, known as the “low man,” is first responsible for rotating over and protecting the rim if there’s been dribble penetration. Vucevic in the clip above is primarily concerned with stopping Gallinari from an easy layup as Bruno Fernando sets the hammer screen.

Two, because hammers are “blind screens”—set behind the defender so that he can’t see it coming—a switch might be late.

And, three, hammer switches are especially vulnerable to slips, as Chris Oliver’s video explains here:

Much like Motion Strong, hammer can also be a mere weakside decoy action, great for spacing whether or not the cutter gets the ball. In this play from the 2020 NBA Finals, Markieff Morris sets a hammer screen for Kyle Kuzma while LeBron James drives in for a dunk. Morris’s defender, Kelly Olynyk, is swiveling his head back and forth from LeBron to the hammer, uncertain whether to help with the drive or worry about the screen:

Some teams set two-person stagger flare screens, such as this give-and-go sequence from the Toronto Raptors to get Paul Watson a chance at a corner 3:

And here, the New Orleans Pelicans run the original version of the hammer screen, which Zion Williamson occupying Ham’s role:

See More: