Productive Passing

Earlier today we posted a stat called “Productive Passing Percentage,” which measures the percentage of frontcourt touches by a player that ends in an assist, a secondary assist, or a pass that leads to a shot foul.

Deron Williams led the Nets by this metric, with 13.7 percent of his frontcourt touches turning into productive passes. But how does that rank in the NBA?

This chart is the top 20 among only the NBA’s top-50 leaders in assists per game, to provide some kind of a baseline. (Minimum 4 games played and 20 minutes per game.) Williams ranks 15th in the NBA, just behind Wizards guard John Wall and just ahead of Rockets guard James Harden. Ricky Rubio is far and away the league leader — nearly 20 percent of the time he touches the ball in the frontcourt, it ends with a teammate scoring or getting to the line.