NBA: Who Are the Truly Elite Scorers in the NBA?

The bottom line in the NBA is scoring. There are a number of factors that go into the game, and they all make a difference, but at the end of the day the team that wins is the team that puts the most points on the board. In order to win, you need a guy on your team that can do that.

So who are the elite scorers?  

That all depends on what you mean by "elite." There are all kinds of scorers, and among each there are different measures of "elite." 

What are you looking for in an elite scorer versus a merely good scorer?

The word that comes to mind for me is "mismatch." The elite scorer is the guy who is always going to create a mismatch in one way or another, though that doesn't necessarily mean they are the mismatch. It could be that either through providing floor spacing or double teams, they create a mismatch elsewhere on the court. 

Some players are shot creators who are always a threat to score when the ball is in their hands. Some are stop-and-pop artists that are just outright "assassins," a second away from hitting a shot from anywhere on the floor. 

The fact is that scoring is such a diverse thing that it's almost impossible to take one player and name him as the most elite. 

So, rather than rank the most elite in some random way, I'll look at some different types of scorers and identify the top three in each category. Then I will look at two composite categories and name the top five in each. 

Best Shooter: Dirk Nowitzki

One type of elite scorer is the shooter. The shooter roams the court without the ball and gains position on his defender. Once he does, it's a given that points will be posted on the board.

They have honed their shots to virtually unguardable. They shoot; they score. 

If you want to know who a great shooter is, then look at the long twos. There's a reason that defensive strategy of every great defense revolves around getting teams to shoot from there. It's the lowest percentage shot in terms of point rewards. 

Yes, threes are a bit harder, but the reward is 50 percent greater.

Teams with players who can hit the long two spread the court and make defense harder for the other team. 

Last year no player made more long twos than Dirk Nowitzki. What's even more amazing is that he made 52 percent of his 6.3 attempts per game. For those of you who don't follow such things, that's not just good, it's simply not supposed to be possible. 

Of course if you're seven-feet tall, have the most technically beautiful, unguardable shot in the NBA, then the impossible becomes possible.

It's not like Dirk can't drop the three either; he shoots 59 percent from behind the arc. 

There's a reason that Dirk Nowitzki is owning that trophy and it has a lot to do with his scoring ability. 

Honorable Mention:

Stephen Curry is a name that might surprise some people but he has a justifiable placement here. He makes 48.1 percent of his shots from 16-23 feet, he averages 4.1 attempts from 16 feet out and has an effective field goal percentage of 56.7 percent from that range. That's pretty impressive shooting. 

Ray Allen is the all-time leader in three pointers. You can't not list him here. He has the highest FG% of any player in the NBA from 16 feet out and still averages 2.1 threes per game. 

Best Shot Creator: Derrick Rose

The shooter is dangerous without the ball; the shot creator is dangerous with the ball. He can strike at any time. He slices and dices defenses like they were tomatoes and he was a Ginsu knife.

No player in the NBA created more field goals for himself last year than Derrick Rose, who had 518. No starting player had a higher point-per-play average on isolation plays.

Isolation plays are an important thing to look at in this category because it shows what a player is doing by himself to create shots with the ball. 

A player can can create shots for himself off the dribble with help if someone sets for him, or he can create one for himself without the ball off of cuts or screens, but the real measure of a player's shot-creating ability is on the isolation play. 

Rose scores a ridiculous 1.05 points out of isolation. No one is even close to him in that regard.

Rose is so adept with the ball in his hands and so fast from the arc to the rim that stopping him, when he's healthy, is virtually impossible. (He was not healthy in the Miami series)

Honorable Mention:

Kobe Bryant had the fourth most unassisted field goals (488) of any player and averaged .99 points per play on isolation plays. Perhaps the most frightening thing about Bryant is that his ability to score comes form anywhere on the court.

He uses the step back jumper as well as anyone in the league. The footwork in that shot is the kind of thing you want to tape and show your team if you're a high school coach.

LeBron James had the second most unassisted field goals (513) and averaged .94 points per play on isolation plays. James also shared responsibilities with Dwyane Wade, who made the fifth most unassisted field goals. 

Overall, James and Bryant are both better scorers than Rose, but when it comes to being able to create a shot, get from the arc to the rim or score off of isolation, they aren't. 

Best in the Paint: Dwight Howard

A large part of the mentality of winning basketball games is scoring in the paint. In fact, the reason that the shooters and shot creators are so important is that if you have them on your team, you can make your opponent come out to guard you.

If you can do that, you can open up the paint, where the high percentage shots are. 

The most critical area of the court is the paint. If you have a man who can score there, you have a chance to win a lot of games. The big man who can really score and dominate is a rare find, and that's the reason they get gambled on in the draft, and why the rule of trades in the NBA is no "bigs for smalls," as big players have more value than smaller players. 

Dwight Howard shot .637, making 7.3 field goals per game in the paint last year, the most of anyone in the NBA. He was the best roll man on the pick-and-roll, averaging an absolutely ridiculous 1.43 points per play.

In short, no one in the NBA right no one is as adept at getting the ball in the net in the paint as Howard. 

Honorable Mention:

Blake Griffin was a revelation last year with his thunderous, high-flying dunks. Some people argue that "all he does is dunk." Hey, if dunking works, dunk away.

Griffin makes 6.8 field goals a game inside the paint, shooting .630. He also scores 1.05 points per play as the roll man, but he is most effective when he is cutting to the rim to convert those dunks, scoring 1.29 points per play on the cut. 

Amare Stoudemire is a slightly different kind of paint scorer than Howard and Griffin. While both of those players live at the rim, STAT has more range, making 2.2 shots per game in the paint, but outside the restricted area. That doesn't mean he can't get to the rim though, as he scores 3.9 field goals a game there.

Stoudemire shoots .633 inside the paint. 

Best Contact Scorer: Kevin Durant

Most modern basketball analysis points to use of possessions. The argument is that if you make your shots from the charity stripe, it's just as effective, if not more so than if you make them from the field, as most players (not named Dwight Howard) shoot better from the stripe than from the field. 

If a player shoots 80 percent from the stripe it would take an .800 field goal percentage to match that. There is a type of player who plays to draw contact from the defender, drawing the foul.  

No player in the NBA is better at that than Kevin Durant, who made 594 free throws last year, the most in the league. 

Honorable Mention:

Kevin Martin is an underrated scorer. Most people would probably be surprised to know that he made the same number of free throws as Durant, but on five fewer attempts. In case you're wondering, the tie-breaker went to Durant because he does so much better when not getting fouled.

Martin would be more of a household name if he were playing for a contender. 

Dwyane Wade made 6.5 free throws per game, third most in the NBA of players that shot at least .750 from the charity stripe. This is an amazing number when you consider that he is sharing the scoring responsibilities with LeBron James and Chris Bosh. 

Inside and Outside Scorers

There are some players who can slay you from the inside or from the outside. Only a very small number are equally proficient in both, none more so than LeBron James.

In the entire NBA last year, there were only four players who averaged four field goals both in and out of the 10-foot range.

LeBron James was the most adept of anyone in that regard. He sank 5.4 inside 10 feet and 4.3 outside the paint. The reality is that he actually shoots reasonably well from long range. He makes 45 percent of his shots from 16-23 feet and he makes 33 percent of his threes.

While these numbers aren't "Dirkish," they are above average. 

Honorable Mention: 

Carmelo Anthony was the next best scorer from all ranges, averaging an evenly balanced 4.5 buckets from inside 10 feet and 4.4 from outside. This vindicates Anthony's reputation as one of the most versatile and complete scorers in the NBA. 

The third player who managed the feat is Monta Ellis, who drained shots from inside and 4.7 from outside. The final player was Derrick Rose, who averaged 4.8 from inside and 4.0 from outside. 

Kobe Bryant makes the other honorable mention player. He averaged 3.8 from inside and 5.2 from outside, making him the closest to the 4/4 split without making it there. 

The Whole Package: Kobe Bryant

There are a select few who can beat you anywhere on the court. They can take you off the dribble, create shots when they don't have the ball or get inside or outside. They, too, can create contact with the defender.

These are the elite among the elite. 

No one is a more complete package than Kobe Bryant. Hoopdata has shot locations mapped out into several ranges, they have under three feet (the restricted area), 3-19 feet, 10-15 feet 16-23 feet, and the three point shot.

The only player in the NBA to make at least 1.4 field goals per game from every single area is Kobe Bryant. 

This is a testament to Bryant's overall skill level. It is all the more remarkable because he was playing with reduced minutes last season. Essentially if Kobe Bryant is on the court he's a danger to score.

Honorable Mention:

LeBron James was in the top five of every category I looked at with the exception of best shooter. There he was "only" sixth. He was a very close second to Bryant. His combination of size and athleticism is unmatched by anyone, perhaps ever. If the rumors are true that he is working on his post moves, he could get even better.

That's not something the NBA world outside of Miami wants to hear.  

Dwyane Wade is just outside of virtually every list. He has amazing shot-creating ability, breaks to the rim extremely well and draws contact. If there is a chink in his armor, it is his range. Still, his overall offensive game is top-notch.

Carmelo Anthony has a highly honed game and he can beat you in any number of ways. Whether he's taking you off the dribble or just squares up and shoots, Anthony is a persistent danger. 

Dirk Nowitzki has an incredible skill level and when he is determined to score, he does. He proved it during the postseason last year in one of the more dominant, memorable runs in NBA history.