The NBA offseason has blitzed by us and training camps are just a couple of weeks away from opening up and signaling the start of the pre-season portion of the year.
There will be big questions to answer all over the league. Can the Milwaukee Bucks defend their NBA championship? Will the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers be able to stay healthy? Is a Ben Simmons trade ever going to happen?
The answers to those questions will come soon enough, but the NBA is a numbers game first and foremost. We’ll take a look in the crystal ball and try to project the league’s leaders and statistical output for the following categories: Scoring, rebounds, assists, stocks (steals plus blocks), 2-point shooting, 3-point shooting and 3-pointers made.
Let’s get started in the scoring category, and one of the greatest scorers in NBA history takes the honor here.
NBA statistical leaders: Scoring – Stephen Curry
Predicted average: 31.5
On a team with a better record, Stephen Curry would have been MVP last season. His Golden State Warriors were 39-33, a respectable record considering their early struggles, but they were a mere play-in team that fell short against the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.
It was a shorthanded squad, missing Klay Thompson, leading to Curry simply having to carry a ridiculous scoring load with defenses sending double and triple-teams at him on every possession. In spite of it all, he led the NBA in scoring with a career-high average of 32.0 points per game. With Thompson’s return, Curry’s volume should go down a bit, but he’ll still fire away from 3-point range at a historic rate of volume and success.
NBA statistical leaders: Rebounds – Rudy Gobert
Predicted average: 14.0
Some of the usual rebounding suspects in years past will be absent from the top of the leaderboards, leaving room for Rudy Gobert and a new cast of characters to get into the mix. Andre Drummond will be Joel Embiid’s backup with the Philadelphia 76ers, and DeAndre Jordan will be in a suit on the Los Angeles Lakers bench, but Gobert is no rebounding slouch and he’ll be a worthy winner of this honor.
NBA statistical leaders: Assists – James Harden
Predicted average: 11.0
James Harden racks up huge assist totals alongside his scoring numbers. On this uber-talented Brooklyn Nets squad alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, his scoring will likely tick down a bit, but his assists should hold steady or even increase as he facilitates their historic offense.
NBA statistical leaders: Stocks – Myles Turner
Predicted average: 3.9
Myles Turner is a two-time blocks leader for the Indiana Pacers and is coming off an absurd average of 3.4 per game last season. He averages 2.2 per game over the course of his career and is a virtual lock to be at or near the very top of the block leaderboards every season. Mind you, he’s never averaged a steal per game, but the bulk of his blocks should make him a heavy favorite to win this category.
NBA statistical leaders: 2-point percentage – Rudy Gobert
Predicted percentage: 67.5
Rudy Gobert might not have much scoring ability outside of the paint, but he’s unstoppable when he has the ball around the basket. He’s a 64.6 percent shooter from 2-point range in his career, led the NBA in 2-point shooting last season, and there’s no reason to think he won’t shoot between 65 and 70 percent next season.
NBA statistical leaders: 3-point percentage – Joe Harris
Predicted percentage: 48.0
Joe Harris might not get all the headlines for the Brooklyn Nets, but he’s a deadly complement to their Big 3 of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. With all those weapons and Harden’s playmaking ability, Harris is going to be open an absurd amount next season and he’ll make defenses pay for having to pick their poison.
NBA statistical leaders: 3-pointers made – Stephen Curry
Predicted total: 345
Steph Curry might not shoot the highest percentage from 3-point range this season, but with his efficiency and super-high volume, he’ll almost certainly hit the most attempts. Most years when healthy he leads the NBA in both attempts and makes from long distance, and you can expect this season to be no exception.
The NBA offseason has blitzed by us and training camps are just a couple of weeks away from opening up and signaling the start of the pre-season portion of the year.
There will be big questions to answer all over the league. Can the Milwaukee Bucks defend their NBA championship? Will the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers be able to stay healthy? Is a Ben Simmons trade ever going to happen?
The answers to those questions will come soon enough, but the NBA is a numbers game first and foremost. We’ll take a look in the crystal ball and try to project the league’s leaders and statistical output for the following categories: Scoring, rebounds, assists, stocks (steals plus blocks), 2-point shooting, 3-point shooting and 3-pointers made.
Let’s get started in the scoring category, and one of the greatest scorers in NBA history takes the honor here.
NBA statistical leaders: Scoring – Stephen Curry
Predicted average: 31.5
On a team with a better record, Stephen Curry would have been MVP last season. His Golden State Warriors were 39-33, a respectable record considering their early struggles, but they were a mere play-in team that fell short against the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.
It was a shorthanded squad, missing Klay Thompson, leading to Curry simply having to carry a ridiculous scoring load with defenses sending double and triple-teams at him on every possession. In spite of it all, he led the NBA in scoring with a career-high average of 32.0 points per game. With Thompson’s return, Curry’s volume should go down a bit, but he’ll still fire away from 3-point range at a historic rate of volume and success.
NBA statistical leaders: Rebounds – Rudy Gobert
Predicted average: 14.0
Some of the usual rebounding suspects in years past will be absent from the top of the leaderboards, leaving room for Rudy Gobert and a new cast of characters to get into the mix. Andre Drummond will be Joel Embiid’s backup with the Philadelphia 76ers, and DeAndre Jordan will be in a suit on the Los Angeles Lakers bench, but Gobert is no rebounding slouch and he’ll be a worthy winner of this honor.
NBA statistical leaders: Assists – James Harden
Predicted average: 11.0
James Harden racks up huge assist totals alongside his scoring numbers. On this uber-talented Brooklyn Nets squad alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, his scoring will likely tick down a bit, but his assists should hold steady or even increase as he facilitates their historic offense.
NBA statistical leaders: Stocks – Myles Turner
Predicted average: 3.9
Myles Turner is a two-time blocks leader for the Indiana Pacers and is coming off an absurd average of 3.4 per game last season. He averages 2.2 per game over the course of his career and is a virtual lock to be at or near the very top of the block leaderboards every season. Mind you, he’s never averaged a steal per game, but the bulk of his blocks should make him a heavy favorite to win this category.
NBA statistical leaders: 2-point percentage – Rudy Gobert
Predicted percentage: 67.5
Rudy Gobert might not have much scoring ability outside of the paint, but he’s unstoppable when he has the ball around the basket. He’s a 64.6 percent shooter from 2-point range in his career, led the NBA in 2-point shooting last season, and there’s no reason to think he won’t shoot between 65 and 70 percent next season.
NBA statistical leaders: 3-point percentage – Joe Harris
Predicted percentage: 48.0
Joe Harris might not get all the headlines for the Brooklyn Nets, but he’s a deadly complement to their Big 3 of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. With all those weapons and Harden’s playmaking ability, Harris is going to be open an absurd amount next season and he’ll make defenses pay for having to pick their poison.
NBA statistical leaders: 3-pointers made – Stephen Curry
Predicted total: 345
Steph Curry might not shoot the highest percentage from 3-point range this season, but with his efficiency and super-high volume, he’ll almost certainly hit the most attempts. Most years when healthy he leads the NBA in both attempts and makes from long distance, and you can expect this season to be no exception.
