The 2025-26 NBA season has produced a scoring explosion the likes of which we haven’t seen in a very long time. Teams are averaging 116.7 points per game this season, the fourth-most in NBA history.
Part of the reason why is that we have seen a notable increase in scoring from quite a few players this time around compared to the 2024-25 season. Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic is perhaps the first name that comes to mind, and here we take a look at him and some of the rest.
Luka Doncic: 28.2 PPG (2024-25) -> 35.0 PPG (2025-26)
Donovan Mitchell: 24.0 PPG (2024-25) -> 31.3 PPG (2025-26)
Austin Reaves: 20.2 PPG (2024-25) -> 27.8 PPG (2025-26)
Lauri Markkanen: 19.0 PPG (2024-25) -> 27.6 PPG (2025-26)
Michael Porter Jr.: 18.2 PPG (2024-25) -> 26.3 PPG (2025-26)
Deni Avdija: 16.9 PPG (2024-25) -> 25.4 PPG (2025-26)
Keyonte George: 16.8 PPG (2024-25) -> 22.9 PPG (2025-26)
Dillon Brooks: 14.0 PPG (2024-25) -> 21.7 PPG (2025-26)
Kevin Porter Jr.: 11.7 PPG (2024-25) -> 21.3 PPG (2025-26)
Nickeil Alexander-Walker: 9.4 PPG (2024-25) -> 20.7 PPG (2025-26)
Alex Sarr: 13.0 PPG (2024-25) -> 19.1 PPG (2025-26)
Jalen Duren: 11.8 PPG (2024-25) -> 18.6 PPG (2025-26)
Andrew Nembhard: 10.0 PPG (2024-25) -> 17.9 PPG (2025-26)
Ryan Rollins: 6.2 PPG (2024-25) -> 17.2 PPG (2025-26)
Jaime Jaquez Jr.: 8.6 PPG (2024-25) -> 15.6 PPG (2025-26)
Kyshawn George: 8.7 PPG (2024-25) -> 15.1 PPG (2025-26)
Ajay Mitchell: 6.5 PPG (2024-25) -> 14.2 PPG (2025-26)
Sam Merrill: 7.2 PPG (2024-25) -> 13.9 PPG (2025-26)
Collin Gillespie: 5.9 PPG (2024-25) -> 13.1 PPG (2025-26)
Reed Sheppard: 4.4 PPG (2024-25) -> 12.9 PPG (2025-26)
Doncic is averaging 6.8 points per game more this time around compared to last season. The Slovenian is the league’s leading scorer and could well end up winning his second scoring title in 2026. If Doncic can maintain his current average, he’ll be just the third player to average at least 35 points per game in a season in the 21st century after James Harden (36.1) and Kobe Bryant (35.4).
Doncic’s teammate, Austin Reaves, has taken an even bigger jump than him, increasing his scoring average by 7.6 points per game. We have seen a bit of a dip in Reaves’ production in his last two games, though, and you wonder whether that was just a blip or a sign of things to come once he returns from injury.
As for who else stands out here, Ryan Rollins has stepped up in a big way for the Milwaukee Bucks. You wondered how the Bucks would fill the void left by Damian Lillard, and Rollins has more than played his part by increasing his average by 11 points per game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo stated he has never seen a player take a jump as Rollins has. The guard had signed on a two-way contract with the Bucks back in February 2024 after being waived by the Washington Wizards, and it’s remarkable how far he has come from then.
Speaking of former Wizards, Deni Avdija has impressed for the Portland Trail Blazers. Avdija has upped his average by 8.5 points and has been the top-level scorer the Trail Blazers have lacked in recent years.
Speaking of top-level scorers, the Phoenix Suns parted ways with Kevin Durant in the offseason. Durant was sent to the Houston Rockets for a package centered around the explosive Jalen Green.
The hope was that Green could replicate Durant’s production, to an extent, but he has only played two games this season due to injury. If you’d told someone back in October that the guard would miss a big chunk of the first half of the season, they’d have predicted that the Suns would hit rock bottom. But they haven’t.
One of the biggest reasons is the other notable player the Suns got in that Durant trade, Dillon Brooks. Brooks has upped his average by 7.7 points and has been a great second option next to Devin Booker. He has even managed to deliver as the first option when Booker has been out, and no one saw this coming.
It will be interesting to see if Brooks and the rest are able to keep up this level of production over the course of the season.
