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NBA: Offense reaching historic lows amidst new rule changes

By Jack Simone

PORTLAND, OREGON - JANUARY 16: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks dribbles against Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers in the first quarter at Moda Center on January 16, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - JANUARY 16: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks dribbles against Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers in the first quarter at Moda Center on January 16, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives to the basket against De’Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings; NBA (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /

Over this past offseason, the NBA implemented new rule changes in order to eliminate some “non-basketball plays” which were common last season. The idea was to improve the on-court product of the NBA.

In addition, the league changed the brand of basketball they used. They had been using Spalding balls since the 1983 season, but just switched to Wilson brand balls.

Changing the type of basketball may not seem important, but for the players who have played with the same ball for their entire career, this has to make a big-time difference.

Fans are also back in arenas at full capacity. Last year, players were able to play in empty arenas, so having fans back all of a sudden has to feel a bit weird at first.

NBA ofense reaching historic lows amidst new rule changes

Jeff Tracy of Axios noted all of these factors when writing an article outlining the huge change in NBA offenses. Numbers are way down this year on the offensive end of the floor.

Some notable numbers he included in his data included field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and overall offensive efficiency from this year compared to years past.

Offensive efficiency is down 4.72% from last year, which is the largest drop-off in NBA history for a single season. Meanwhile, shooting splits are much lower than they have been in a long time.

The league-wide field goal percentage sits at 44.8 percent, which is the lowest since 2012 when it was also 44.8 percent. As for three-point percentage, that sits at 34.3 percent league-wide, which is the lowest since 1999 (33.9 percent).

So, with all this data in mind, which teams and players are being affected the most by the dip in offensive efficiency this season? What could the end results be?

*Stats were taken from before the games on Thursday, November 4th