LUMA Basketball Research · Research note · November 3, 2026
Analyzing SGA and the Value of Soaking Up UsagePoints Above Cost
Ayomide Awoyemi
PDF · The thread on X · PAC
On a night where injuries forced OKC to play rookies for 44 minutes, and with only Ajay as another shot creator, SGA scored 43 points on 35 shots (−4.9 rTS). And was a great example of the value of soaking up usage, and why PAC exists. (Efficiency cannot be looked at in a vacuum. It has to be viewed through the lens of opportunity cost.)
Table 1. OKC's half-court offense, 2024-25 and 2025-26 regular seasons
| 2024-25 | 2025-26 | |
|---|---|---|
| League half-court points per 100 | 110.2 | 111.2 |
| OKC half-court points per 100 (rank of 30) | 115.6 (3rd) | 114.0 (8th) |
| SGA on the floor | 119.5 (4,619 poss.) | 118.4 (4,184 poss.) |
| SGA off the floor, games he played (rank equivalent) | 105.2 (25th; 1,864 poss.) | 106.5 (27th; 1,885 poss.) |
| Games he missed | 117.5 (6 games) | 110.7 (14 games) |
| SGA's share of OKC's unassisted half-court field goals | 45.9% | 42.7% |
| Next player | Jalen Williams, 20.2% | Ajay Mitchell, 12.1% |
| Teammates' attempts that are self-created, SGA on / off | 34.5% / 48.7% | 32.8% / 48.2% |
| Teammates' eFG, self-created / all other shots | 45.9% / 60.4% | 47.5% / 57.8% |
| Teammates' true shooting, SGA on / off | 58.0% / 55.7% | 58.1% / 56.0% |
Half court: possessions with no shot tagged fastbreak. Self-created: attempts tagged pull-up, step-back, fadeaway, turnaround or driving. Teammates: every OKC player except SGA. Rank equivalent: where that figure would place among the 30 teams that season.
Data: public NBA play-by-play, 2024-25 and 2025-26 regular seasons. LUMA Basketball Research · lumahoops.org
SGA soaked up 37% of OKC's shooting possessions, with 34 of his 35 shots coming in the half court.
