The Art of the Grab-And-Go Bucket

A grab-and-go bucket refers to when a player grabs a defensive rebound and proceeds to assist a teammate or score an unassisted bucket in transition. Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook were known as the best grab-and-go Bucket Getters for years in the NBA due to their sheer speed and athleticism, but Giannis Antetokounmpo has surpassed them as the premier grab-and-go player.

The general idea of a grab-and go-bucket is that if a teams’ point guard can get a defensive rebound instead of the center, then the team can get into their offensive action quicker, or in the best-case scenario look to score in transition. Generally, teams score better in transition rather than in a half-court setting. The theory sounds quite intuitive, but it made a lot more sense to me once I looked through the numbers.

What is the average possession length based on which position retrieved the defensive rebound?

The smaller the position that received the rebound (point guard = smallest, center = largest), the faster a shot is taken.

I found the same results when I filtered for only possessions when the team took their shot in transition (grab-and-go scenario).

These findings made a lot of sense considering the smaller positions are generally the best ball handlers and passers, which allows them to move the ball up the floor quickly in transition. On the other hand, big men have an instinct to find the nearest guard to pass to once they retrieve a defensive rebound, stalling the offense.

Which positional rebound led to the best offense?

The TS% (True Shooting Percentage) of the PG, SG, SF, and PF in grab-and-go scenarios were all similar and about 1% better than the C’s. So from an efficiency standpoint, there is a clear benefit of any position other than the center grabbing the defensive rebound.

I expected the PG’s efficiency to be best, but in today’s game, we see elite play-making and athleticism coming from all wing positions.

It turns out that the best grab-and-go player for each team was usually the team’s best player. The faster and more often a team could get the ball to their best player, the better offense they would have.

Which position performed a grab-and-go most frequently?

Point guards executed the grab-and-go most frequently, and as the position size increased, the grab-and-go frequency decreased.

Point guards created shots in transition 61% of the time after they grabbed a defensive rebound compared to centers who only created shots in transition 46% of the time after they grabbed a defensive rebound. Such a meaningful difference gives considerable incentive for teams to try to have their guards defensive rebound.

The basketball analytics community, including myself, would trash Westbrook for going out of his way to steal rebounds from his teammates… who cares! This was actually extremely beneficial for OKC because their best player would have the ball in his hands earlier, and more often on each possession. Why waste time having the center rebound then pass to the guard, by that time the opposing team could have already set up their defense.

How have the NBA’s top players fared at grab-and-go plays?

Here is a list of notable grab and go Bucket Getters that I will focus my analysis on, and their estimated team TS%.

De’Aaron Fox sits atop an impressive list creating efficient offense for his team. Fox has an incredible ability to push the pace, collapse the defense and then find his teammates for open looks in transition.

He also has excelled scoring in transition ranking in the 69th percentile per NBA.com.

Additionally, at the top of the list are James Harden and Lebron James whose grab-and-go TS was about 10% better than their positional average. Not surprising to see them ranked highly considering they are two of the best offensive players in the NBA with unbelievable passing skills.

Looking at the Transition Rate of the same group of players (percentage of defensive rebounds turned in grab-and-go’s), D’Aaron Fox leads leads the group.

Fox rebounded far less than the rest of the players on this list, but he was looking to push when he did rebound.

Antetokounmpo’s Transition Rate was 68%, which ranked second on this list, and his grab-and-go efficiency was about league average (previous chart). These numbers were similar to the Milwaukee Bucks overall, who ranked second in transition frequency but near the bottom in transition efficiency. This doesn’t mean that Antetokounmpo should put on the breaks when he gets a defensive rebound. The Bucks 58% TS overall was third in the NBA, so Antetokounmpo generating a 59.2% TS on grab-and-go’s is still great offense for the Bucks.

Jokic, Gobert, and Adebayo created the least transition possession after a defensive rebound, aligning with the grab-and-go findings that centers push after a defensive rebound far less than other positions.

Who scores the fastest out of the notable group on grab-and-go buckets?

At 35 years old, James’ passing vision and speed was still among the best in the league. He also topped the list of fastest grab-and-go players for all NBA players with over 100 grab-and-go possession as seen below.

Think about how fast that is, when James grabbed a defensive rebound and looked to push, he and his team scored on average in 4.5 seconds.

Two other players that stood out throughout the analysis were Westbrook and Simmons. Both players were able to execute their grab-and-go possessions quickly, and both pushed in transition after defensive rebounds above league average. However, both players were at the bottom of the list in terms of TS%. And unlike Antetokounmpo, their TS%’s were well below their team’s average, so it doesn’t appear to be a smart shot for their team.

Harden ranked number one in the NBA in grab-and-go TS% for players with over 100 grab-and-go possessions, so Westbrook’s poor performance can’t be blamed on his teammates.

Simmons has been poor finishing his own grab-and-go’s shooting 49.5% TS, and overall his grab-and-go efficiency of 51% TS, is still well below the league average and the 76ers team average. Even when looking at transition points per possession per NBA.com, Simmons ranked in the 21st percentile.

These metrics should be concerning for Russell Westbrook and Ben Simmons. I hate to say it, but they’re probably both overrated in transition/grab-and-go.

So who is the best grab-and-go Bucket Getter?

I will give De’Aaron Fox an honourable mention, but he just hasn’t had enough grab-and-go possession to win the highly coveted award.

In my eyes, Lebron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo take the cake for the best grab-and-go players in the league. James is absurdly efficient on grab-and-go plays, and to be so effective at 35 years young is incredible.

Although not as efficient, Antetokounmpo sheer grab-and-go volume is incredible. Most grab-and-go plays come from centers just because centers dominate defensive rebounds. Still, Antetokounmpo ranks first with 301 grab-and-go possessions, nearly 100 more than second-place Hassan Whiteside who has 209 grab-and-go possessions.

I’ll end with one more grab-and-go dunk from the GOAT himself, King James throwing down a monster one-handed dunk in game four of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals.