While it's hard to say that the league leader in assists per game during the 2024-25 NBA regular season was robbed, per se, it is true that Atlanta Hawks star guard Trae Young lost out on his fair share of dimes during the team's mediocre, 40-42 campaign. Utilizing NBA.com, Rotowire.com found the NBA players (during the 2024-25 NBA season) that had the most potential assists that were not scored due to a missed basket.
Essentially, what players were let down by their teammates?
Visit RotoWire's NBA Daily Lineups page to find out where each and every player slots in!
Full Rankings: NBA's Top 10 Potential Assists Lost in 2024-25
Rank | Player | Potential Assists | Assists | Difference |
1 | 1576 | 880 | 696 | |
2 | 1152 | 673 | 479 | |
3 | 996 | 529 | 467 | |
4 | 1035 | 575 | 460 | |
T5 | 1077 | 638 | 439 | |
T5 | 1155 | 716 | 439 | |
7 | 923 | 486 | 437 | |
8 | 1030 | 605 | 425 | |
9 | 836 | 431 | 405 | |
10 | 1081 | 687 | 394 |
NBA's Most Missed Assists: Trae Young Leads the Pack
While you can say that Young's season was a memorable one, with the veteran of 483 games leading all NBA players that qualified with 11.6 assists per game in 76 games played, that's not to say that the seventh year veteran got his fair share on the court this year.
That's because Young's teammates in Atlanta let him down quite a bit this NBA season, with the 26-year-old leading the league in potential assists that were not scored as such, at 696, beating out fellow playmakers Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers (479 missed assists) and Phoenix Suns veteran guard Devin Booker (467 missed assists).
In total, Young's potential assists count of 1,576 and actual assists figure of 880 were enough to lead the league in both categories, with the former standing more than 400 dimes ahead of Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets (1,155 potential assists) and Haliburton's count of 1,152 potential assists.
Throw in the 880 assists that Young was credited for, which was 164 ahead of Jokic's final tally of 716 dimes in the NBA top 10 and you have a pretty good snapshot of the type of playmaking that the Hawks' mainstay in the backcourt could have generated this season.
At the end of the day, at least Young can hang his hat on posting another solid season with the Hawks, posting career high numbers when it came to assists per game and asserting himself as one of the NBA's best passers along the way.
