The NBA has exploded into a metrics-heavy league, now with more ways than ever to measure a player's impact. Yet to simply measure how many points a player can create is a fun exercise that only requires the addition of points scored off of assists and screen assists.
Under this metric, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, the league's reigning MVP, leads the way as the NBA's best points creator. His total is higher than those of Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and the perennial scoring machine James Harden of the Houston Rockets—his primary competition for this year's award.
According to Zach Kram of The Ringer, who came up with the simple formula, The Greek Freak is able to generate the most points once his points scored, points off assists, and points off screen assists are taken into account.
Unlike Doncic, James and Harden, who boast a ridiculous usage rate due to their heavy ballhandling responsibility, Antetokounmpo creates more points by constantly being on the move and setting screens for his teammates. These screens turn into open 3-point shots or good looks for a mid-range jumper or floater.
Screen assists are a trend mostly seen with big men. Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers leads this category far and away among these players, with almost 17 points produced per game just based on his screen assists.
James, the league's overall assist leader, and Doncic, a nightly triple-double threat, are often producing offense either by scoring or assisting for their teammates. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo and other top big men like Karl-Anthony Towns and Nikola Jokic are able to produce points by setting screens for their teammates, giving them an indirect assist by putting their body on the line. This ability sets Antetokounmpo apart from the other top superstars in the NBA.
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