How is assist ratio calculated?

Divide assists by the player's total possessions used (shots, free-throw trips, turnovers and assists), as a percentage. A high figure means a large share of his involvement creates for others.

What is the difference between assist ratio and assist percentage?

Assist ratio measures assists against a player's own possessions. Assist percentage measures the share of teammates' made baskets he assisted while on the floor. One is about his role, the other about his impact on the team.

What Is Assist Ratio in Basketball?

What Assist Ratio measures

Raw assist totals reward fast teams, because more possessions means more chances to pass. Assist Ratio takes pace out by measuring assists against the possessions used, so a slow, sharing team and a fast one can be compared fairly. A methodical team with a high assist ratio really is moving the ball well, even if its per-game total looks modest.

How Assist Ratio is calculated

AST RATIO = Assists ÷ (FGA + 0.44 × FTA + Assists + Turnovers) × 100

AST Ratio: Assist Ratio / AST: Assists / FGA: Field Goal Attempts / FTA: Free Throw Attempts / TOV: Turnovers

The catch

Watch for

Assist Ratio and Assist % measure different things

Assist % is the share of teammates' baskets a player set up. Assist Ratio is assists per possession, whether or not those shots went in. A player on a poor-shooting team can post a high ratio and a low assist share, creating good looks his teammates miss. Read together they tell more than either alone.

Watch for

A high ratio is not always creative playmaking

Some teams reach a high rate through simple, repeated actions, a pick-and-roll that hits the roller every time. That is a real assist, but not the same as invention. Assist Ratio measures the outcome of ball movement, not how clever it was.

Seen in a game

Monaco are what a high assist ratio looks like up close. At 19.5 per 100 possessions, second in the league, they paired constant ball movement with the lowest turnovers around, 20.6 assists a game against just 10.3 giveaways, the best assist-to-turnover mark in the EuroLeague. Mike James ran it at 6.4 assists a game. Their 23-20 record shows the sharing translated, though a soft defense (114.3) shows that ball movement alone does not make a contender.

Common questions

What is assist ratio?: Assist ratio is the percentage of a player's possessions that end in an assist. It measures how playmaking-focused a player is, not just how many assists he piles up.
How is assist ratio calculated?: Divide assists by the player's total possessions used (shots, free-throw trips, turnovers and assists), as a percentage. A high figure means a large share of his involvement creates for others.
What is the difference between assist ratio and assist percentage?: Assist ratio measures assists against a player's own possessions. Assist percentage measures the share of teammates' made baskets he assisted while on the floor. One is about his role, the other about his impact on the team.