Every great modern offense needs an engine. In today’s NBA, potential assists can provide clarification on who’s driving their team’s machine and how effective they actually are.

Assists are recorded. Points are counted. But one thing that people can overlook is the opportunity that never converts. That is where potential assists can help portray the whole picture.

Potential assists measure the number of times a pass directly leads to a shot attempt, regardless of whether the shot actually went in. While traditional assist numbers rely on teammates shot-making, potential assists isolate playmaking volume and opportunity creation.

Note: When we say “assist” in this article, we are using stats based on our tracking and not the NBA’s official assists totals

The following table looks at the current NBA leaders in potential assists per game.

 

Volume Creators: The Engine of Modern Offense  

NBA Leaders in Potential Assists Per Game

Player	Potential APG	APG/ Missed APG	FG% Off Pass
Cade Cunningham	19.5	11/8.5	56%
Ja Morant	16.9	8.8/8.1	52%
Josh Giddey	16.6	9.1/7.5	54%
Nikola Jokic	16.4	9.7/6.7	59%
Luka Doncic	16	9.5/6.5	59%

Cade Cunningham leads all NBA players by a wide margin at 19.5 potential assists per game which is a massive creation workload. Most fans see 11 assists per game and don’t even realize that 8.5 potential assists are left on the table every single game. The Pistons jump to 1st in the East this year certainly makes more sense after seeing these statistics. 

Not only does Cade lead the league in potential assists but he does it while maintaining a high FG% off of his passes. The Pistons have found a formula to win and that formula seems to revolve around giving the ball to Cade and letting him create opportunities for himself and the rest of the team.

The most interesting thing about this list is the FG% off passes. The clear story of this chart is just how efficient their teammates are off of their chances created. Although Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic are 4th and 5th respectively in this table, they are both at the top in terms of efficiency.

This elite group of distributors are putting their teammates in position to score and they are delivering. The NBA average FG% is just below 47% so it shows just how impactful this group is when setting up their teammates in advantageous positions.

When the Shot Doesn’t Fall

Since we have established that potential assists measure opportunity creation, FG% can be used to establish how advantageous the chances are that the passer creates, as well as his teammates’ ability to hit shots.

This table looks at which players should be averaging more assists based on FG% off of their pass.

Player	Lowest FG% Off pass	Potential APG	APG
Egor Demin	43.8	8	3.5
Shaedon Sharpe	43.9	6.6	2.9
Anfernee Simons	45	6	2.7
Trey Murphy III	45.3	8.6	3.9
Zach Lavine	45.5	5.5	2.5

>> Min 5 Potential Assists Per Game

These numbers actually reveal something important. Not all assisted opportunities are equal. From what we saw in the table before, it actually highlights just how impressive and difficult it is to be an elite passer with high volume.

There are also a few interesting correlations that are presented here. All these players are on teams that are below .500 win percentage. The only exception is Simons who played the majority of his games for Boston before being traded to Chicago. Also, most of these players, if not all of them, are considered scorers that are looking for their own shot so it is interesting to see that player archetype dominate this list.

Outlier Performances: When Opportunity Explodes

Single game potential assist explosions show how dramatically offensive ecosystems can shift on any given night. 

Most Potential Assists in Game – This Season

Player	Potential Assists	Assists/ Assists Missed
I. Collier vs ATL	38	14/24<<
C.Cunningham vs UTA	37	19/18
I. Collier vs IND	33	20/13
D. Booker vs UTA	32	18/14
L. Doncic vs UTA	32	17/15

>> Jazz shot 37% off Collier’s passes

One thing that jumps out right away is that all of these games were against the Jazz and the other 2 were by Isaiah Collier who plays for the Jazz. Even though the Jazz give up the most PPG in the NBA at 125.9 per game, it is still surprising to see every single one of these players in one of those games. The pace of play is obviously very high in these games and the Jazz seem to give the opponent’s offensive initiator a lot of freedom to create.

Collier’s ridiculous 38 ‘potential assist’ game resulted in only 14 assists. Using the word “only” may seem surprising given the 14 assists number but it occurred with a FG% of 36.8%. In a later outing, he recorded 20 assists with fewer potential assists.

Same player but with vastly different results. The difference between those performances? Creating open shots for his teammates and their ability to make those chances count.

This underscores a key truth about assists: They rely on pass creation but most importantly, shot making. Assists are not just simply a personal statistic.