Bleacherreport
Predicting Every Major Stats Leader for the 2024-25 NBA Season
C.Wright27 min ago
- Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via With the 2024-25 NBA season coming, it's the perfect time to play the prediction game. Win totals and awards are the most common topics of prognostication, but other areas to look at are the league leaders in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. The scoring race has been quite exciting over the years. One player has dominated the rebounding title for the past two seasons. The assist crown saw a newcomer join the group of regulars who often top the list. The steals title usually changes hands every year. Finally, there is a new king in the blocks department, and he might reign for quite a while. Let's take a stab at predicting the major-category stat leaders this season and look at a dark-horse candidate in each.
- Glenn James/NBAE via Last season's points-per-game leader: Luka Doncic, 33.9 ppg Over the past few seasons, there have been a few regular contenders for the scoring crown: Doncic, who won it last season; Joel Embiid, assuming he can stay healthy; and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the runner-up for two of the last three campaigns. Those three will be contenders again this season, but the player to watch is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder star finished third in scoring last year with a 30.1 average and fourth in 2022-23 with 31.4 points per game . The Thunder are poised to be one of the NBA's best teams this season, and their offense is predicated on SGA being a scoring machine. Getting to the free-throw line is critical to becoming the scoring leader, and Gilgeous-Alexander finished fourth in free-throw attempts last season. One area that could help the 26-year-old lead the league in scoring would be getting up more threes. The 3.6 attempts from last season are not enough. If he can get that number closer to five and slightly improve his percentage from 35.4 percent, it will be tough for others in the league to score with him.Prediction: Gilgeous-AlexanderDark-horse candidate: This one is all based on health, but if Embiid plays 65-plus games, he will be in the running for the scoring title. Before last season, he won the previous two scoring races, and he did average 34.7 points through 39 games last year. It is just a question of how many games the Sixers will get out of a 30-year-old Embiid.
- Rocky Widner/NBAE via Last season's rebounds-per-game leader: Domantas Sabonis, 13.7 RPG Sabonis has been a rebounding machine, leading the league in the category for the past two seasons, and it's difficult to envision that run ending. Two names who could give the Sacramento Kings standout a run here are Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert. Both have finished in the top five of rebounding over the last three seasons, with Gobert even leading the league in 2022 . All three will contend for this crown, but it is going to be hard to beat Sabonis. Jokic's plate is packed with the responsibility of carrying the Nuggets offense. Gobert has less to do offensively for the Wolves, but on the defensive end, he needs to provide rim protection. Chasing blocks takes Gobert out of rebounding position. Sabonis is a key cog in the Kings offense, but it is not all on him. He is not a rim protector, so he often has perfect rebounding positioning, giving him the edge for a third straight category win. Prediction: Dark-horse candidate: One name to watch is Anthony Davis. He finished third last season, but the question for him is availability. Last year was the first time since 2017-18 that he played over 70 games. Davis will have a good chance at the rebounding title if he repeats that number.
- Joe Murphy/NBAE via Last season's assists-per-game leader: Tyrese Haliburton, 10.9 APG The Indiana Pacers were an offensive juggernaut last season, and a big part of that was Haliburton turning into the NBA's assists leader. They played with the second-highest pace in the NBA, which also yielded the second-highest offensive rating . There were not many changes to the Pacers roster this offseason, which means they'll still have a potent offense. Haliburton will again be the primary ball-handler, creating for everyone, so his chances of repeating as the assists leader are high. The player most likely to take the title from him is Doncic. Last season, he averaged a career-high 9.8 assists, which was good for second in the category. Doncic already has the perfect rolling partner in Dereck Lively II. Adding another floor-spacer in Klay Thompson should create more assist opportunities and win Doncic the assist title.Prediction: Dark-horse candidate: Keep an eye on James Harden with the Clippers. The departure of Paul George will put more ball-handling and playmaking on his shoulders. His usage rate will increase from the 20.2 mark he had last season.
- Kevin C. Cox/Last season's steals-per-game leader: De'Aaron Fox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 2.0 SPG Steals tend to be an overrated defensive stat, as many come from being great at gambling on the weak side. Neither of last year's leaders, Gilgeous-Alexander and Fox, is considered a good one-on-one defender, but they benefit from playing off their teammates' defensive work. The Thunder have surrounded Gilgeous-Alexander with great defenders like Luguentz Dort and Jalen Williams on the perimeter. That allows SGA to be more aggressive in playing the passing lanes and coming up with steals. Fox is lightning-quick, and even though the Kings are not nearly as good defensively as the Thunder, he has great instincts on the weak side, jumping in passing lanes. It is going to be tough for either player to repeat this season, though. For Gilgeous-Alexander, the addition of defensive wizard Alex Caruso might siphon some steal opportunities. Before last season, Fox had never averaged more than 1.6 steals per game, which came back in 2018-19. There are quite a few candidates who could make a run at the steals title next season. Keep an eye on Dejounte Murray with the New Orleans Pelicans. He will be in a similar situation where he can work on the weak side defensively, as Herb Jones will take on most teams' primary perimeter players. That should open opportunities for Murray to scoop steals on the weak side.Prediction: Dark-horse candidate: New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges will be on a loaded defensive team with OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. Bridges can work on the weak side like Gilgeous-Alexander and Fox did last season, which gives him a chance to swoop in for the steals title.
Read the full article:https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10136752-predicting-every-major-stats-leader-for-the-2024-25-nba-season
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