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NBA: Predicting the 2022 season leaders in every statistical category

By Duncan Smith

May 11, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates after making a basket against the Phoenix Suns during the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
May 11, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates after making a basket against the Phoenix Suns during the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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NBA
NBA Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The NBA offseason has blitzed by us and training camps are just a couple of weeks away from opening up and signaling the start of the pre-season portion of the year.

There will be big questions to answer all over the league. Can the Milwaukee Bucks defend their NBA championship? Will the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers be able to stay healthy? Is a Ben Simmons trade ever going to happen?

The answers to those questions will come soon enough, but the NBA is a numbers game first and foremost. We’ll take a look in the crystal ball and try to project the league’s leaders and statistical output for the following categories: Scoring, rebounds, assists, stocks (steals plus blocks), 2-point shooting, 3-point shooting and 3-pointers made.

Let’s get started in the scoring category, and one of the greatest scorers in NBA history takes the honor here.

NBA statistical leaders: Scoring – Stephen Curry
Predicted average: 31.5

On a team with a better record, Stephen Curry would have been MVP last season. His Golden State Warriors were 39-33, a respectable record considering their early struggles, but they were a mere play-in team that fell short against the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.

It was a shorthanded squad, missing Klay Thompson, leading to Curry simply having to carry a ridiculous scoring load with defenses sending double and triple-teams at him on every possession. In spite of it all, he led the NBA in scoring with a career-high average of 32.0 points per game. With Thompson’s return, Curry’s volume should go down a bit, but he’ll still fire away from 3-point range at a historic rate of volume and success.