Who are the NBA's best pure scorers?
One of the most overused terms in basketball is labeling a player a 'pure scorer.' This label is assumed to be reserved for prolific scorers who don't play a lot of defense or do much of anything else - as in the player in question is purely a scorer. But the truth is that a pure scorer is a player who can score almost effortlessly and at will, regardless of how well versed or not he is in the other facets of the game.
To qualify as a pure scorer in our books, you have to score a lot, in a variety of different ways and in an efficient manner. So on that note, let's set some parameters. First, let's find the players that are averaging at least 20 points per game this season, but then narrow that down to those who are doing so on an above average True Shooting Percentage (at least .535).
That leaves us with 13 players, and when you narrow that down to players who can score 20 points on above average efficiency and make a three-pointer (Sorry DeMarcus Cousins and Brook Lopez), it leaves us with a solid list of 10-11 players, which seems like a good cutoff point.
So without further ado, here are the best pure scorers this season, listed with their scoring average, true shooting percentage, three-point percentage, individual offensive rating and their 2013-14 shot charts, courtesy of NBA.com/stats. For the record, the players are listed in order of their 2013-14 Offensive Win Shares, according to Basketball Reference:
Kevin Durant -
PPG: 30.0
TS%: .625
3PT%: 38.4
ORtg: 122
***
LeBron James -
PPG: 25.9
TS%: .668
3PT%: 39.2
ORtg: 122
***
Kevin Love -
PPG: 25.6
TS%: .591
3PT%: 39.0
ORtg: 122
***
Damian Lillard -
PPG: 21.6
TS%: .585
3PT%: 44.5
ORtg: 119
***
James Harden -
PPG: 24.4
TS%: .599
3PT%: 33.5
ORtg: 115
***
Dirk Nowitzki -
PPG: 21.3
TS%: .590
3PT%: 41.4
ORtg: 117
***
Carmelo Anthony -
PPG: 26.1
TS%: .546
3PT%: 39.7
ORtg: 111
***
Blake Griffin -
PPG: 22.3
TS%: .581
3PT%: 33.3
ORtg: 112
***
Stephen Curry -
PPG: 23.0
TS%: .570
3PT%: 38.5
ORtg: 110
***
Paul George -
PPG: 22.9
TS%: .583
3PT%: 38.4
ORtg: 112
***
Arron Afflalo -
PPG: 20.8
TS%: .586
3PT%: 41.4
ORtg: 113
***
There are a few surprises here. For one, most would assume that the 'be able to hit a three-pointer' benchmark would eliminate Blake Griffin, but the big man has actually attempted 21 three-pointers (About one attempt for every two games) this season and connected on seven of them. That's obviously not eye popping, but it's at least a sign that Griffin has the range in him, and when you realize that he is 5-of-10 from the corners this season, you can begin to see a future where threes become a more regular part of this pure scorer's game.
Another surprise may be seeing Paul George on this list. Everyone knows that George is playing at an MVP caliber level this year as he continues to dominate on the defensive end while adding to his ever evolving offensive game, but to see him qualify as one of the NBA's best pure scorers using such parameters is stunning when you consider how much energy he expends on the defensive end. Only LeBron James is supposed to be able to do that.
Lastly, Damian Lillard and Arron Afflalo were minor surprises. Lillard is having a great season for a surprisingly excellent Trail Blazers team and he is on the verge of superstardom, but it's doubtful that anyone would have put his overall scoring prowess up there with the other names on this list without looking at the numbers.
As for Afflalo, the one knock on his stellar season thus far is that he's doing it for a miserable Magic squad, and many see his performance as 'someone has to score on bad teams,' but the efficient way he's scoring is actually tougher to do when you're surrounded by futility, so the fact he's scoring this well on that Orlando roster is a testament to his level of play in 2013-14, not a knock on it.