It was quite the offseason for the NBA. Fans have argued online whether this summer has been the most active in years. LeBron James is now a Philadelphia 76er; Giannis Antetokounmpo joined Bam Adebayo on the Miami Heat; LaMelo Ball joined Anthony Edwards on the Minnesota Timberwolves and the East is the deepest it's been in years.
As of the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 24, the season is 96 hours old, 28 games exist and that microscopic sample already contains several things that the last 30 seasons have never produced.
League-wide shooting slump
Matched like-for-like against the first 28 games of every season since 1997: 32.9% from 3-point range is the worst since 2017's 32.7, and below every season from 2018 through 2025.
In that same 28-game window, teams are averaging 113.1 points per game, down 6.2 from last season.
The volume is still there, like it has been every season. Teams are still regularly hoisting as many threes as last season. The shots will continue to be the same; the makes aren't there right now.
| # | Season | Three-point percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1997 | 3530.00% |
| 2 | 1998 | 3110.00% |
| 3 | 1999 | 3370.00% |
| 4 | 2000 | 3480.00% |
| 5 | 2001 | 3590.00% |
| 6 | 2002 | 3710.00% |
| 7 | 2003 | 3300.00% |
| 8 | 2004 | 3080.00% |
| 9 | 2005 | 3350.00% |
| 10 | 2006 | 3470.00% |
Methodology
Frozen rows from a deep-dig claim verified server-side on 2026-10-24. The SQL ran read-only in the dig sandbox against the canonical corpus and is recorded for review; it is never re-executed. WITH g AS (SELECT season, game_id, MIN(game_date) gd FROM player_game_stats WHERE season_type = 'regular-season' GROUP BY 1,2), ranked AS (SELECT season, game_id, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY season ORDER BY gd, game_id) rn FROM g) SELECT s.season, ROUND(SUM(s.fg3m)*100.0/NULLIF(SUM(s.fg3a),0),1) AS fg3_pct FROM player_game_stats s JOIN ranked r ON r.game_id = s.game_id AND r.season = s.season WHERE r.rn <= 28 AND s.season_type = 'regular-season' GROUP BY 1 ORDER BY 1
Ty Jerome
Ty Jerome has always been a crafty scorer. But his opening-day night will be remembered in NBA fandom for years to come. Jerome exploded for 45 points on a ridiculous 17-of-25 shooting, launching logo 3-pointers. Jerome's previous career-high was 33, set in 2025.
Through the first two games of the season, Jerome is averaging 36.5 points per game. It is extremely unlikely Jerome will keep this up over the remaining 80 games, but the man can put the ball in the hoop.
A true bucket-getter.
| # | Season | ppg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2020 | 3.30 |
| 2 | 2021 | 10.70 |
| 3 | 2022 | 7.10 |
| 4 | 2023 | 6.90 |
| 5 | 2024 | 2 |
| 6 | 2025 | 12.50 |
| 7 | 2026 | 19.70 |
| 8 | 2027 | 36.50 |
Methodology
Frozen rows from a deep-dig claim verified server-side on 2026-10-24. The SQL ran read-only in the dig sandbox against the canonical corpus and is recorded for review; it is never re-executed. SELECT s.season, ROUND(AVG(s.points),1) AS ppg FROM player_game_stats s JOIN players p USING(player_id) WHERE p.canonical_name = 'Ty Jerome' AND s.season_type = 'regular-season' GROUP BY 1 ORDER BY 1
The Bulls and Caleb Wilson
On opening night, the Bulls got beat down by the Toronto Raptors, losing 135-92. Rookie Caleb Wilson finished with 16 points and four rebounds in 32 minutes.
His plus-minus was minus 45, which means that when Wilson was on the court, the Bulls were outscored by 45 points. The team went 4-of-36 from behind the arc. They were one of only six teams since 1997 with 36+ attempts with four or fewer makes.
They followed it up with a 132-point effort two nights later and a win. It was a 40-point swing between their first two games of the year.
| # | abbreviation | Season | Three-pointers made |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HOU | 2021 | 4 |
| 2 | POR | 2025 | 4 |
| 3 | BOS | 2022 | 4 |
| 4 | NYK | 2021 | 3 |
| 5 | CHA | 2022 | 4 |
| 6 | CHI | 2027 | 4 |
Methodology
Frozen rows from a deep-dig claim verified server-side on 2026-10-24. The SQL ran read-only in the dig sandbox against the canonical corpus and is recorded for review; it is never re-executed. WITH tg AS (SELECT s.season, s.game_id, s.team_id, s.game_date, SUM(s.fg3m) m, SUM(s.fg3a) a FROM player_game_stats s WHERE s.season_type = 'regular-season' GROUP BY 1,2,3,4) SELECT ts.abbreviation, tg.season, tg.game_date, tg.m AS fg3m, tg.a AS fg3a, ROUND(tg.m*100.0/tg.a,1) AS pct FROM tg JOIN team_seasons ts ON ts.team_id = tg.team_id AND ts.season = tg.season WHERE tg.a >= 36 AND tg.m <= 4 ORDER BY tg.a DESC
Cameron Boozer
Memphis forward Cameron Boozer stood out in the Grizzlies' first set of games. The rookie's combination of 24 rebounds and 11 assists in his first two games is something that hasn't been done since 1998.
Boozer is on a Grizzlies team that will look to lean on Boozer during this season. With the departure of Ja Morant, Boozer is someone who has the chance to develop quickly.
A big man with 11 assists in two games is a bit out of left field. Rebounding debuts are expected from someone like Boozer, but to most fans, assists are not.
In his second game, Boozer dropped 25 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in a win against the Golden State Warriors on Friday, Oct. 23.
| # | canonical name | ast first2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cameron Boozer | 11 |
| 2 | Blake Griffin | 7 |
| 3 | Andrew Bogut | 5 |
| 4 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 3 |
| 5 | Emeka Okafor | 1 |
| 6 | Darrell Arthur | 1 |
| 7 | Zydrunas Ilgauskas | 0 |
Methodology
Frozen rows from a deep-dig claim verified server-side on 2026-10-24. The SQL ran read-only in the dig sandbox against the canonical corpus and is recorded for review; it is never re-executed. WITH deb AS (SELECT player_id, MIN(season) s1 FROM player_game_stats GROUP BY 1 HAVING MIN(season) >= 1998), r AS (SELECT s.player_id, s.game_date, s.points, s.reb, s.ast, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY s.player_id ORDER BY s.game_date) rn FROM player_game_stats s JOIN deb USING(player_id)) SELECT p.canonical_name, SUM(r.ast) AS ast_first2, SUM(r.reb) AS reb_first2 FROM r JOIN players p USING(player_id) WHERE r.rn <= 2 GROUP BY 1 HAVING COUNT(*) = 2 AND SUM(r.reb) >= 24 ORDER BY ast_first2 DESC
Miscellaneous
Some other interesting stats worth noting from the first week include Paul George and Paolo Banchero.
Paul George, 36, put up 38 points with five steals in his new Boston threads on opening night.
Since 1997, only four players age 34 or older have put up 38 points with five steals. Only Stephen Curry did it at an older age than George, when he was 37 years old.
Paolo Banchero went 10-of-12 for 35 points with ten assists and 16 free-throw attempts. Only seven games since 1997 feature 35+ points on 12 or fewer shots. Only Nikola Jokic in 2018 had double-digit assists.
It's still October. There is plenty of ball left to play. Wilson won't play as poorly all season long, and expect Jayson Tatum to take over the scoring load for the Boston Celtics from here on out.