From off-court revelations in October to big-name injuries in November and the NBA Cup and trade rumblings in December, this season has gone by in a flash. Throughout it all, though, the stats saw every game, every line of the play-by-play, every lineup, every minute the now-41-year-old LeBron James played and every broadcast class of Cooper Flagg‘s professional education.
What follows are statistical awards from the metric that read all those lines and saw all those lineups. These are the best players, not just overall, but by various components of their games — from passing and rebounding to late-clock shots and putback situations.
The metric behind these awards is called net points, and it divides the credit and blame for each shot, rebound, turnover, foul and free throw across the players on each team. If a shooter creates his own 3-point shot and makes it, he gets more credit than a shooter who had the shot created by a teammate, for example. That credit is divided so that players are appropriately rewarded when the team performs well and appropriately responsible when the team doesn’t.
Net points is not a perfect metric, but it’s useful in the aggregate. Even if it was perfect, there is still a human decision about whether to evaluate players based on their totals or go more granular, either per game or per minute.
To compile these leaderboards, I’m ranking players in each category based on what they do per game, which helps capture players who have dealt with injuries. Let’s get into 10 interesting categories (stats are updated through all games on Jan. 19):
Jump to a category:
Best 3-point shooters | Best at forcing turnovers
Best defenders | Best in late-shot-clock situations
Best in putback situations | Best midrange shooters
Best passers | Best players overall
Best rebounders | Best scorers in transition
MVP: Best overall
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
Net points: plus-7.1 per game, plus-300 total
Why he’s No. 1: You’ll see Gilgeous-Alexander show up on a few lists below because he does a lot of good things. Adding 7.2 net points per game means he is contributing about seven points more than a league-average player toward the team’s scoring margin. His teammates, though, are generally quite a bit better than average, which is what makes the 35-8 Thunder so devastating.
Gilgeous-Alexander also ranks No. 1 in the league in highest offensive Net Points overall on driving shots (plus-50.6), layups (plus-71.5) and bank shots (plus-12.0) and is third in Net Points on shots at the rim (plus-77.5).
The runners-up: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (plus-6.7); Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (plus-4.3); Victor Wembanyama, Spurs (plus-4.2); Luka Doncic, Lakers (plus-4.1); Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers (plus-3.6)
Top rookie: Kon Knueppel, Hornets (plus-1.0)
What you need to know: The 214 total net points Jokic posted before his knee injury late last month are unlikely to get passed by more than three or four other players. In other words, the net points metric makes it clear Jokic is an All-NBA player even if he misses the official 65-game cutoff.
Stopper: Best defender
Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
Net points: plus-2.6 per game, plus-76 total
Why he’s No. 1: Wembanyama has missed 14 games and is playing only 28.7 minutes per game, but he still has the league’s most total defensive net points. The basic reason is obvious: He is practically within arm’s reach of half the frontcourt. One thing this metric only partially captures is how much easier he makes defense for his teammates. The Spurs can be up much more on their matchup because blow-bys are a lower cost.
Runners-up: Isaiah Hartenstein, Thunder (plus-2.0); Jaylin Williams, Thunder (plus-1.5); Ajay Mitchell, Thunder (plus-1.5); Chet Holmgren, Thunder (plus-1.4); Alex Caruso, Thunder (plus-1.3)
Top rookie: Collin Murray-Boyles, Raptors (plus-0.5)
What you need to know: The Thunder’s defense is 3.4 net points better than the second-place Pistons, which is essentially 0.7 net points per player on the court. So, yes, they have several players playing great defense.
Mitchell might be the surprise, but he has led the league all season in effective field goal percentage allowed to his matchup, per Genius IQ. Matchup defense is only one part of defense and doesn’t fully account for difficulty of offensive player, but Mitchell — who is on one of the NBA’s most valuable contracts — is playing extremely well.
Ball Hawk: Forcing turnovers
Tyrese Maxey, 76ers
Net points: plus-3.3 per game, plus-129 total
Why he’s No. 1: Maxey doesn’t have a cool nickname such as «Great Barrier Thief» or «Grand Theft Alvarado,» but he has a big role in forcing bad passes and strips. He might be too good as a player to have such a defensive-oriented nickname. Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse has a history of preaching turnovers to his teams, and this has benefitted Maxey.
Runners-up: Toumani Camara, Trail Blazers (plus-3.1); Dyson Daniels, Hawks (plus-3.1); Jalen Suggs, Magic (plus-3.0); Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (plus-2.9); Kevin Porter Jr., Bucks (plus-2.9)
Top rookie: VJ Edgecombe, 76ers (plus-2.6)
What you need to know: Unlike the rest of the players on this list, Camara gets most of his value here in drawing offensive fouls — he has drawn 60 of them, a season after leading the league with 91. Jamal Shead (Raptors) is a very distant second (40) in terms of value added through offensive fouls drawn.
Rain Maker: Shooting 3-pointers
Jamal Murray, Nuggets
Net points: plus-2.5 per game, plus-99 total
Why he’s No. 1: This accounts for a player’s ability to make 3s, but also to take 3s — and create them. Murray is doing all of those at the highest level this season. He is making 45% of his 3s off the dribble and taking 6.6 per game, which are both career highs, per Genius IQ.
Runners-up: Sam Merrill, Cavaliers (plus-2.4); Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves (plus-2.1); Stephen Curry, Warriors (plus-2.0); Kon Knueppel, Hornets (plus-2.0); Tyrese Maxey, 76ers (plus-1.9)
Top rookie: Knueppel (plus-2.0)
What you need to know: A decade ago, the NBA had one player taking more than seven off-dribble 3s per 100 possessions: Curry. There are seven of them this season. It’s still a harder shot than shooting off the catch — 33% vs. 37% — but if guys can make them at better than 35% or so, it’s so hard on defenders, who can’t ever back off. On this list, Merrill and Knueppel take a good number of catch-and-shoot 3s, but both are also over 40% on off-dribble 3s, per Genius IQ.
Surgical: Midrange shooting
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
Net points: plus-0.9 per game, plus-38 total
Why he’s No. 1: Gilgeous-Alexander shoots better than 50% from midrange, whether it’s pull-ups from the foul line or going toward the baseline. He doesn’t pass as much from this area as a few others — Nikola Jokic (Nuggets), Deni Avdija (Trail Blazers), Alperen Sengun (Rockets) — which can open up the court for teammates, but his ability to make these shots over the past several years has helped his boost to superstardom.
Runners-up: T.J. McConnell, Pacers (plus-0.7); Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (plus-0.5); Kevin Durant, Rockets (plus-0.4); Tobias Harris, Pistons (plus-0.4); Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (plus-0.3)
Top rookie: Walter Clayton Jr., Jazz (plus-0.2)
What you need to know: Some say analytics killed the midrange shot. It didn’t. What it actually did is get rid of the shot for bad midrange shooters, which is a lot of players. The midrange shot is fine if a player can make it consistently, and this list of All-Stars has players who can.
One note: The top midrange players don’t add as many net points per game (in the plus-1.0 per-game range) as the top 3-point shooters (in the plus-2.0 per-game range).
Speed Demon: Transition
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers
Net points: plus-1.8 per game, plus-55 total
Why he’s No. 1: You think of Leonard as slow and ponderous because of how he plays in the half court, but he has also never been this good in transition. He has taken more shots in transition than ever this season, basically an extra shot per game over his past average, per Genius IQ. His efficiency has always been good; he continues to make his transition shots at over 70% when accounting for 3s.
Runners-up: Cade Cunningham, Pistons (plus-1.5); Tyrese Maxey, 76ers (plus-1.5); LeBron James, Lakers (plus-1.4); Jalen Johnson, Hawks (plus-1.3); Michael Porter Jr., Nets (plus-1.3)
Top rookie: Cooper Flagg, Mavericks (plus-0.8)
What you need to know: James has been part of this leaderboard for almost 20 years, but it’s normally reserved for young, versatile players. It shouldn’t be surprising that the best rookie is Flagg, who is extremely versatile.
Cleanup Crew: Putback situations
Anthony Davis, Mavericks
Net points: plus-1.4 per game, plus-28 total
Why he’s No. 1: It is mostly height that helps in putback situations, but there is also a skill to not getting rattled or rushed. Davis, who has played just 20 games this season and could be traded soon, has consistently been in the top 15 in this category the past few seasons.
Runners-up: Ivica Zubac, Clippers (plus-0.9); Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (plus-0.9); Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (plus-0.8); Chet Holmgren, Thunder (plus-0.8); Jalen Brunson, Knicks (plus-0.7)
Top rookie: Ryan Kalkbrenner, Hornets (plus-0.7)
What you need to know: You might ask, «What is Brunson doing here?» This category captures what happens in that scramble after an offensive rebound. It’s not half-court offense and it’s not transition offense — it’s either putbacks at the rim or players such as Brunson taking advantage of their defender losing track of them. Those often lead to setups at the 3-point arc, where Brunson has made 68% of his league-high 31 putback 3s this season.
On the other hand, Cooper Flagg (Mavericks) is the worst player in this category (minus-0.3 per game), just behind Anthony Black (Magic), Patrick Williams (Bulls) and Jarace Walker (Pacers). Flagg is shooting 6-of-21 in putback situations and just 6-of-13 on layups. We found a weakness!
Defuser: Late-shot-clock situations
Grayson Allen, Phoenix Suns
Net points: plus-0.4 per game, plus-12 total
Why he’s No. 1: Allen has been on the receiving end of late-shot-clock passes more recently — about four per game the past two weeks — and he has produced 29 points on 27 shots, per Genius IQ. It doesn’t sound great, but those are quality points when the clock and the defense are putting pressure on a shooter.
Runners-up: Miles McBride, Knicks (plus-0.4); Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (plus-0.4); Jamal Murray, Nuggets (plus-0.4); Kevin Durant, Rockets (plus-0.4); Max Christie, Mavericks (plus-0.3)
Top rookie: Caleb Love, Trail Blazers (plus-0.3)
What you need to know: This category is extremely tight because there are only a few opportunities per game. And missing a shot off a hand-grenade pass with a couple of seconds left on the clock isn’t necessarily the shooter’s fault if a teammate dribbled away the clock or overpassed. But it gets at a different kind of «clutch» that gets talked about in games.
Between Nov. 24 and Dec. 3, McBride went 8-of-13 on late-clock shots, including 7-of-10 on 3s. A lot of these were created by his teammates, but he knocked them down and has generally kept doing it, though not at the level from that stretch.
Facilitator: Passing
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
Net points: plus-1.4 per game, plus-46 total
Why he’s No. 1: Jokic’s ability to create high-quality shots for teammates while limiting bad-pass turnovers is exactly what this metric is capturing. His ability to make no-look passes increases the quality of those shots created, and this metric isn’t capturing those (yet).
Runners-up: Cade Cunningham, Pistons (plus-1.2); Jalen Williams, Thunder (plus-1.0); LeBron James, Lakers (plus-1.0); Payton Pritchard, Celtics (plus-1.0); Dyson Daniels, Hawks (plus-0.9)
Top rookie: Cooper Flagg, Mavericks (plus-0.7)
What you need to know: So many of the better distributors now are wings who can handle the ball, such as a few players on this list. With Chris Paul in limbo on the Clippers and Trae Young (Hawks/Wizards) not playing enough minutes this season, Pritchard sneaks onto this list to represent the small guys.
Glass Cleaner: Rebounding
Amen Thompson, Rockets
Net points: plus-1.3 per game, plus-47.3 total
Why he’s No. 1: Rebounding is about getting a missed shot, but also preventing the player you’re covering from getting it. With Thompson getting defended by a lot of guards, he has many situations in which he’s just bigger and more aggressive on the glass against players who won’t go after the rebound.
Runners-up: Steven Adams, Rockets (plus-1.2); Jabari Smith Jr., Rockets (plus-0.9); Kevin Durant, Rockets (plus-0.9); Mitchell Robinson, Knicks (plus-0.9); Jusuf Nurkic, Jazz (plus-0.7)
Top Rookie: Kon Knueppel, Hornets (plus-0.5)
What you need to know: The Rockets have gang rebounding as a primary emphasis, which is why their players make up most of this leaderboard. It’s working for them, as rebounding adds about 5.2 net points per game across everyone, easily best in the league. The drop between the Rockets and the second-place Hornets is the same as between the Hornets and the Grizzlies at No. 9.
For a complete listing of these stats, including past seasons and numerous other categories, you can find them at https://espnanalytics.com/nba-award-leaders.
