If the Kings have the best offensive efficiency in history, do they have the best offense? • USA basketball

on Twitter, journalist Jaja Dubin shared an extremely interesting reflection two days ago. With an offensive efficiency of 119.4 points per 100 possessions, the Kings currently have the most efficient offense in NBA history. However, since all teams tend to maximize their offensive efficiency, the overall fielding average has never been so high.

By “adjusting” a team’s offensive efficiency over a season compared to the average of all franchises over that same season, Mike Brown’s squad has posted just the 120th offense since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. Out of the total number of 1,290 teams.

It is clear that Iaia Dubin adjusts the values ​​to classify attacks not by their absolute value, but by their difference from the norm. Therefore, the best attack would be first and foremost the one whose effectiveness stands out from other attacks of its time.

So what? Well, the big winner of this customization is called Steve Nash. In fact, his 2003/04 Mavericks (Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley, Anthony Jamison, Antoine Walker…) are first, with a difference in efficiency of 9.2 points per 100 possessions compared to the average of other offenses of the era. This team’s adjusted ORtg (team ORtg / average ORtg * 100) is thus 108.94 compared to 104.19 for the current Kings.

The 2004/05 Suns, boosted by the arrival of Steve Nash, are second, while the Canadian leader is still present with his teams in 4th, 8th, 10th and 12th positions!

Jaja Dubin also did the same job for the defense, and this time it is the ubiquity of the teams Tim Duncan which comes out. The 2003/04 Spurs are first with a difference of 8.8 points per 100 possessions compared to the average. San Antonio is ranked 7th, 8th, 10th, 14th and 15th.

Obviously, we also run into Pat Riley’s Knicks or Tom Thibodeau’s Bulls.

Of course, it is extremely complicated to compare attacks in different eras, as the rules have evolved, as has the game itself. Are the 2003/04 Mavericks really the best offense in history? We can debate that. Iain Dubin’s adjustment at least puts the incredible current efficiency into perspective.