James Harden, whose eight seasons on the Houston Rockets were defined by his isolation play, has been the most prolific isolation player for the past decade. In fact, he has been in a league of his own.
In the simplest sense, an isolation possession in basketball occurs when an offensive player is playing one-on-one with their defender, without the involvement of their teammates.
Even though isolation scoring is a critical part of half-court offense, it is important to note that isolation play does not usually make up a large portion of a team’s total offense. Isolation data is available only as far back as the 2015-16 season. Since then, isolation possessions make up a mere 6.8% of a team’s total offense, on average, during the regular season.
@AOP_NBA | NBARegular Season ISO
With that being said, when rotations are tightened in the playoffs and teams start to lean more heavily on their star players, isolation play increases and becomes more important. From the 2016 to 2023 playoffs, isolation frequency rose to an average of 9.3%.
@AOP_NBA | NBAPlayoff ISO
Best Iso Players Today
So far this season, 45 players are averaging at least 2 iso possessions per game (minimum of 20 games played). Among those players, 15 have played in isolation on 15% or more of their total offensive possessions. Below, the iso scoring efficiencies of those 15 players can be seen.
@AOP_NBA | NBAMost Frequent ISO Players
Kawhi Leonard is the most efficient iso player in the league this year. His 1.22 PPP in iso is the second highest since the 2015-16 season, for players with a minimum of 2 iso possessions per game, trailing only Kyrie Irving, who averaged 1.28 PPP during the 2022-23 season.
However, Leonard only has the 10th most iso possessions per game this year and the 11th most total iso possessions. When it comes to iso volume, while still being efficient compared to league standards, Luka Doncic takes the throne.
Doncic averages 7.5 iso possessions per game, which is more than any player not named James Harden in a single season since 2015-16. While the iso volume is very high, Doncic, who has scored a league-best 332 isolation points so far this year, is still extremely efficient. His 1.10 PPP in iso is the 4th best mark in the league for players with at least 2 iso possessions per game, and well above the league average of 0.91.
Isolation basketball may not make up a large chunk of most team’s offensive plays but teams recognize the value of a player to lean on for a bucket in a clutch situation.
Individual Iso Play
In the 2018-19 season, for example, Harden had a total of 1,280 isolation possessions in the regular season. Russell Westbrook, who was second that year, had 353. It wasn’t just sheer volume either. That same season, Harden scored 1,415 points (1.10 PPP) in isolation, DeMar DeRozan was second with 316 (1.00 PPP).
@AOP_NBA | NBAIndividual Iso Play
As skill has continued to increase in the league, so has iso efficiency. This year, players are averaging 1.36 isolation possessions and 0.91 PPP compared with just over 1 iso possession and 0.80 PPP in 2015-16.
@AOP_NBA | NBAIndividual ISO by Year
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A Deep Dive Into Isolation Stats to Find the NBA’s Best Iso Players