Over Expected: what a basketball shot is really worth

What is points over expected?

Points over expected is what a player adds beyond what his shots were worth: the field goals he makes above the difficulty of the looks he took, plus the free throws he draws above the rate those same situations usually produce, expressed per 100 possessions and measured against each season's own league rate rather than a flat average.

Over Expected is a basketball shot-value platform covering NBA, EuroLeague, EuroCup, Liga ACB, Lega Basket Serie A, Basketball Bundesliga, Greek Basket League, ABA Liga, WNBA. It answers one question three ways in every league: shot value, shot-making, and foul-drawing, all possession-level and leak-free, built from 2,882,111 possessions of public play-by-play.

NBA points over expected leaders, 2025-26, per 100 possessions against the season's league rate
#PlayerTeamShot-makingFree throwsPoints over expected / 100
1Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderOKC+8.0+12.7+27.4
2Jimmy Butler IIIGSW+1.7+24.1+25.5
3DeMar DeRozanSAC+6.0+13.1+23.6
4Luka GarzaBOS+8.6+6.9+23.0
5Jalen DurenDET+4.7+19.6+21.8
6Nikola JokićDEN+10.4+3.3+21.7
7Jordan MillerLAC+6.1+14.8+21.4
8Zion WilliamsonNOP+3.2+23.2+20.6
9Luka DončićLAL+6.5+11.0+20.0
10Kevin DurantHOU+8.3+0.8+19.4

Seasons covered: 2020-21 to 2025-26 across 9 leagues.

What this does not measure: the numbers blend playstyle, skill and officiating without separating them, and they are not evidence of referee bias.

Over Expected is a basketball shot-value platform covering NBA, EuroLeague, EuroCup, Liga ACB, Lega Basket Serie A, Basketball Bundesliga, Greek Basket League, ABA Liga, WNBA.