Dwyane Wade Is the Best Man Next to the Man

Dwyane Wade said while he's the Miami HEAT's second option on offense, he's one of the only second options in the NBA that averaged 20 points per game last season. Analysis of the highest scoring 2nd options in the NBA shows Wade was the most productive 2nd option on offense last season.

This article uses the Win Score and Estimated Wins Produced statistics created by sports economist David Berri. Players with an average Win Score per 48 minutes on Offense (WSO48) for their position increase a team's chance of winning 5% by producing 0.050 Estimated Wins per 48 minutes on Offense (Est.WPO48). See the HEAT Produced Page for more information.

Seven teams placed 2 players in the Top 20 for Points Per Game last season:

1. Knicks - Carmelo Anthony (1st), J.R. Smith (18th)
2. Thunder - Kevin Durant (2nd), Russell Westbrook (6th)
3. HEAT - LeBron James (3rd), Dwyane Wade (8th)
4. Warriors - Stephen Curry (7th), David Lee (15th)
5. Blazers - LaMarcus Aldridge (9th), Damian Lillard (12th)
6. Nets - Brook Lopez (10th), Deron Williams (13th)
7. Raptors - Rudy Gay (16th), DeMar DeRozan (17th)

Westbrook led all 2nd options in scoring at 23 ppg. In terms of total offense (points, shots, free throw attempts, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers), Wade led all of the best 2nd option scorers in the NBA last season with 6.6 est. wins produced. D-Will finished right behind him with 6.3 est. wins produced on offense in 9 more games played. Wade's offense increased the HEAT's chance of winning by 9.6% per game. Williams' offense increased the Nets' chance of winning by 8% per game.

If LeBron James is #1, then Wade is -2. You other 2nd options? That means he's still better than you.

The spreadsheet below ranks the estimated wins produced on offense by the top scoring 2nd options in the NBA last season.