Top 10 Screen Assist Leaders in the NBA
A screen assist is a statistic in basketball that measures the number of times a player sets a screen that directly leads to a made field goal by a teammate. The NBA started tracking screen assists in the 2016-17 season.
To qualify for a screen assist, the following criteria must be met:
- The player must set a screen for a teammate.
- The teammate must make a field goal within five seconds of setting the screen.
- The teammate must not have received the ball from the player who placed the screen before the screen was set.
Screen assists are a valuable statistic because they measure a player’s impact on their team’s offense beyond just their traditional assists. A player who sets a lot of screens can create scoring opportunities for their teammates without touching the ball.
Top 10 screen assist leaders in the NBA this season:
- Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz): 6.7 screen assists per game
- Jakob Poeltl (San Antonio Spurs): 5.9 screen assists per game
- Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers): 5.3 screen assists per game
- Deandre Ayton (Phoenix Suns): 5.3 screen assists per game
- Jusuf Nurkic (Portland Trail Blazers): 5.0 screen assists per game
- Steven Adams (Memphis Grizzlies): 5.0 screen assists per game
- Clint Capela (Atlanta Hawks): 4.6 screen assists per game
- Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls): 4.2 screen assists per game
- Ivica Zubac (Los Angeles Clippers): 4.2 screen assists per game
- Richaun Holmes (Sacramento Kings): 4.3 screen assists per game
HELPFUL LINKS:
What Are Assists in Basketball
Most Assists in a Single NBA Game
Most Assists in a Single NBA Season
Most Career Assists in the WNBA
What Is Screen Assist in Basketball?
Let’s discuss the top 10 top 10 screen assist leaders in detail:
Rudy Gober
Rudy Gobert is the NBA’s leading screen assist man for the third time in the six seasons that hustle stats have been tracked. He also averages 1.1 traditional assists per game, but his screen assists are more valuable because they lead to more points. Gobert’s screen assists have helped the Jazz to a 19-7 record this season.
Jakob Poeltl
Jakob Poeltl has seen his screen assist numbers climb as his minutes have grown. He averages 8.1 points per game on pick-and-roll ball-handler sets, which is the most of any player in the NBA.
Domantas Sabonis
Domantas Sabonis has led the NBA in screen assists in the past two seasons. He is also averaging 12.5 points per game for the Pacers with his screens.
Deandre Ayton
Deandre Ayton has ranked in the top four in screen assists in the past two seasons. He is averaging 11.4 points per game on pick-and-roll ball-handler sets.
Steven Adams
Steven Adams has been a screen assist machine for the past three seasons, regardless of which team he’s played for. In his final season with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019-20, he ranked fifth in the NBA with 4.8 screen assists per game. He finished 14th in the league with 4.1 screen assists per game in his only season with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2020-21. This season, he’s matching his career-best with 5.0 screen assists per game in his first season with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Jusuf Nurkic
Jusuf Nurkic is also a very good screensetter. He’s averaging 5.0 screen assists per game this season, which is his career-high. He’s maintained this production despite two of Portland’s key perimeter scorers, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, missing extended time due to injuries. The Nurkic-Anfernee Simons screen combo has been particularly effective, as the Blazers’ offensive rating is 112.4 when those two share the court this season.
Clint Capela
Clint Capela is averaging a career-high 4.6 screen assists per game in his second season with the Atlanta Hawks. He is now playing alongside Trae Young, the top pick-and-roll ball-handler scorer in the league. Young is adept at scoring off Capela’s screens and finding him on lobs as he rolls to the basket. Capela averages 3.5 points per game on 67.8% shooting on lobs this season.
Nikola Vucevic
Nikola Vucevic is a strong contributor in both ends of pick-and-roll sets. He creates 10.2 points per game with his screen assists for ball handlers, which is eighth in the league. He also leads the NBA with 5.9 points per game scored as the roll man when the ball handler looks to pass rather than shoot.
Ivica Zubac
Ivica Zubac is averaging a career-high 4.2 screen assists per game in a career-high 24.3 minutes per game. This is the first time he has ranked in the top 10 in screen assists. Zubac’s screen assists have steadily increased since he joined the Clippers in 2018-19. He averaged 2.8 screen assists per game in 20.1 minutes per game in the remainder of that season, 3.7 screen assists per game in 18.4 minutes per game in 2019-20, and 3.9 screen assists per game in 22.3 minutes last season.
Richaun Holmes
Richaun Holmes has averaged 4.3 screen assists per game each season he’s been with the Sacramento Kings since 2019-20. He has started all but six of 133 games played with the Kings and has delivered consistent numbers in terms of scoring and efficiency and screen assists.
These are just a few of the many players significantly impacting their teams’ offenses by setting screens and creating scoring opportunities for their teammates. Screen assists are an essential part of the NBA game, and they can be a very efficient way to score points.
