A Case for Player Usage

“What is player usage in the NBA”, huh? Well, we’re glad you asked!

Player usage is defined as; “The percentage of team plays used by a player when they are on the floor” according to NBA.com. So essentially, how much a player was involved in a play that resulted in a field-goal attempt, free-throw attempt or turnover.

Here’s the formula for you fellow nerds;
(FGA + Possession Ending FTA + TO) / POSS

Today, we’re taking a look at player usage compared to last year, through roughly 9% into the season to get a good sense of the biggest changes in player usage. This can tell us a few things that we’ll get into after we do the comparisons.

Player (USG%)
Interpreted as players who have played in minimum of 3 games this season

2020-2021 Season

1. Luka Doncic > (37.2)

2. Bradley Beal > (35.7)

3. Ja Morant > (34.3)

4. Giannis A. > (32.8)

5. Trae Young > (32.1)

6. LeBron James > (32)

7. Stephen Curry > (31.9)

8. Donovan Mitchell > (31.3)

9. James Harden > (31)

10. Zach LaVine > (30.3)

11. Kevin Durant > (29.7)

12. Paul George > (29.7)

13. Brandon Ingram > (29.4)

14. Kyrie Irving > (29.3)

15. Derrick Rose > (29.3)

16. Andre Drummond > (29.3)

17. John Wall > (29.3)

18. Kawhi Leonard > (29.2)

19. CJ McCollum > (29)

20. Jayson Tatum > (28.9)

2021-2022 Season

1. Caris LeVert > (34.9) > +26

2. Donovan Mitchell > (34.5) > +6

3. Luka Doncic > (34.5) > -2

4. Giannis A. > (33.4) > 0

5. Paul George > (33.2) > +7

6. Bradley Beal > (32.9) > -4

7. Joel Embiid > (32.2) > +22

8. Ja Morant > (31.7) > -5

9. Jayson Tatum > (31.7) > +11

10. Devin Booker > (31.3) > +18

11. Stephen Curry > (30.7) > -4

12. Trae Young > (30.6) > -7

13. Kevin Durant > (30.6) > -2

14. DeMar DeRozan > (30) > +70

15. Nikola Jokic > (29.9) > +17

16. Anthony Edwards > (29.7) > +41

17. Zach LaVine > (29.5) > -7

18. Damian Lillard > (29.5) > +4

19. Brandon Ingram > (29.3) > -6

20. Jordan Clarkson > (29.1) > +32

Something to remember – a higher usage does not necessarily mean a player is having a better season than previously. Keep in mind usage considers all plays that resulted in a field-goal attempt, free-throw attempt or turnover. In Ja Morant’s case this year, his usage is down slightly, but you might say that he’s having a better year so how can that be right? Correct, his scoring is up but so are his assists and turnovers – all things that play a role in the calculations.

But what does this exactly tell us? Let’s take a look at some of the biggest names to jump up on the list for this year: DeMar DeRozen (+70 spots), Anthony Edwards (+41 spots), Jordan Clarkson (+32 spots), and Caris LeVert (+26 spots).

So let’s ask ourselves; “Are any of these guys benefitting from a temporary situation (team injuries, hot streak, rotation changes)”? If the answer is yes and they are performing, these might be sell high candidates. In the case of the names listed above, I don’t think any of those would be considered a “sell high” candidate. For the most part, you drafted them in a high enough range where their production is equal to the draft position. The only outlier here might be Caris LeVert due to his injury history.

In other cases, players with a high usage and are not performing, might be “sell at any cost” candidates or players who fit your build and you’re stuck with them. In this example, Jordan Clarkson is in our top 20 but looking further into it you’ll see he’s scoring less than last year on more shots (lower FG%) with increased turnovers.

Some names that are not on this list at this point in the season might help you determine certain “buy low” candidates. Some big names that have fallen off this list are James Harden & Lebron James. Harden is averaging 10 points less than he was at this point last season, along with less FG attempts and, the big one, less FT attempts. Lebron is averaging similar points but with more FG attempts and turnovers.

Hopefully you feel more comfortable using the USG filter while looking up stats, if not at least you can sound smart when talking about fantasy basketball information that is almost not relevant in any other part of life.

Thanks for reading!