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Most fans tend to overlook the natural talent needed to be a great passer in the NBA. However, General Managers and members of a team's coaching staff understand the impact that great passers have on an offense. In the 2020-21 NBA season, we have seen just one player average more than 10 assists per night, but several others driving their teams forward with their court vision.
5 Players with the most assists so far in the 2020-21 NBA season
In this report, we rank the five players who have the highest tally of assists in the current NBA campaign. Even though the per-game average has determined the assists champion of an NBA season since the 1969-70 NBA campaign, we have only considered the total assists for this piece.
#5 LeBron James - 150 assists
LeBron James is the reigning assists champion after leading the NBA in assists per game in the 2019-20 NBA season, with an average of 10.2. In the 2020-21 NBA campaign, James' average has dropped to 7.5, but his total of 150 assists through 20 games ranks fifth in the league.
James is the best passer in basketball regardless of where he ranks statistically. Many analysts are quick to point out that his best skill is assisting his teammates rather than his scoring.
'The King' has recorded 9496 assists in his NBA career and might be a year removed from achieving his 10,000th career assist. That will make the LA Lakers' player the first forward in NBA history to reach that mark. Until now, only five players in NBA history have achieved 10,000 assists in their careers.
#4 Trae Young - 155 assists
Trae Young ranks fourth in Usage Percentage in the NBA. Even though his numbers are slightly down from last year, he ranks 12th in points and fourth in assists with 155 in 18 appearances.
Young is a volume scorer (he averages 27 points per game with 18 field-goal attempts per game) and is a good distributor of the basketball.
His assists average of 8.6 is a tad under the 9.3 he recorded last season. However, through his first 18 games of the 2019-20 NBA campaign, he was averaging 8.4 assists per night, which rose to 9.3 by the end of the year.
More importantly, the Atlanta Hawks have a 10-8 record in his first 18 games, while they were 4-14 through Young's first 18 appearances last year.
#3 Nikola Jokic - 166 assists
Arguably the strongest candidate for the 2020-21 NBA season assist leader, center Nikola Jokic is having a tremendous year. Beyond his scoring and rebounding, Jokic is an extraordinary passer, and he is averaging 8.7 assists per game in the 2020-21 NBA season. His assists total (166) ranks third in the league.
Only one center has led the league in total assists in history, and it was Wilt Chamberlain back in the 1967-68 NBA season. Jokic is the Denver Nuggets point guard, in essence, and he is a fantastic playmaker.
Jokic is fourth in the NBA in assists per game (8.7), seventh in rebounds per game (11.7), and 15th in points per game (25.7). Despite all those numbers, Jokic does not rank in the Top 20 in Usage Percentage, which makes his numbers even more impressive.
Moreover, he is leading the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating with a 30.5 grade.
#2 Luka Doncic - 172 assists
Though the Dallas Mavericks have struggled with injuries, Luka Doncic has been the team's bright spot, and he has been available for them. The Slovenian superstar is second in the NBA with 172 assists and second in assists per game (9.6).
The Mavs have an 8-11 record, but Doncic has been solid. He is averaging 27 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.6 assists per game so far (in 18 appearances).
Among the players on this list, Doncic has the highest average of points per game. He is second in Usage Percentage, given the lack of playmaking abilities around him. Despite having the ball most of the time, Doncic averages less than four turnovers per game.
Doncic's season-high in terms of assists in a game this year was 16 against the Denver Nuggets on January 25th. He also leads the league in Triple-Doubles with six.
#1 James Harden - 177 assists
James Harden has made lots of noise in the 2020-21 NBA season. His departure from the Houston Rockets and his arrival to the Brooklyn Nets were incredible storylines in the current campaign, but his level of play has been extraordinary too.
Harden, who led the NBA in scoring in the last three years and was the assists champion the year before that streak started, is now the leader in assists (177) and assists per game (11.1).
Though he is averaging less than 25 points per night for the first time since his departure from the OKC Thunder in 2012, Harden is still putting up big numbers.
He is averaging 24.5 points per game, six rebounds, and 11 assists in 16 appearances so far. His assists total with the Nets is slightly higher than the one he recorded with the Rockets, as he is surrounded by two of the league's best scorers, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Also read: NBA 2020-21: 5 Best centers so far this season
