Basketball True Shooting Percentage (TS%) Calculator
Points, attempts, free throws: one number for scoring efficiency.
The one number for scoring efficiency
Points per game tells you volume; true shooting percentage tells you efficiency. TS% wraps field goals, three pointers, and free throws into a single number: how many points a player produces per shooting possession. This calculator takes points, field goal attempts, and free throw attempts and returns TS%, the stat front offices check first.
It matters because scoring comes in different currencies. A player who scores 25 points on 15 shots is vastly more valuable than one who needs 25 shots, even though the box score headline looks the same. TS% exposes that difference instantly.
How to use the TS% calculator
Enter total points scored, then field goal attempts and free throw attempts. Do not enter free throws made; the formula needs attempts. The tool returns TS% as a percentage with a quick read on where it sits against NBA benchmarks.
Run it on single games for fun, but judge players on seasons. One hot night can push TS% to 80; a full season above 60 on real volume marks an elite scorer.
The formula and a worked example
TS% equals points divided by (2 times (field goal attempts plus 0.44 times free throw attempts)), times 100. The 0.44 estimates possessions used on free throws, since not every trip to the line consumes a full possession: and ones, technicals, and two shot fouls complicate the counting.
Worked example: 25 points on 15 field goal attempts and 6 free throw attempts. Compute 0.44 times 6, which is 2.64, add 15 to get 17.64, double it to get 35.28. Divide 25 by 35.28 to get 0.7087, times 100 gives 70.9 percent. That is a spectacular scoring night: the player produced nearly 1.42 points per shooting possession.
What counts as a good TS%
NBA league average TS% has climbed with the three point era and now sits around 57 to 58 percent. High volume stars should clear 58 percent; 60 plus is elite territory for a primary option. Role players who dunk and shoot open threes can exceed 62 percent, while anything under 53 percent on meaningful volume is a drag on the offense.
Free throws are the quiet lever. Two players with identical jump shooting can differ by two full TS% points on free throw rate and accuracy alone, which is why foul drawing foul merchants grade out better than their field goal percentage suggests.
TS% versus eFG% and points per game
Effective field goal percentage, covered by our eFG% calculator, isolates jump shooting and finishing but ignores free throws. TS% adds the stripe for the complete picture, so it usually runs a point or two higher for players who live at the line. Neither stat sees shot creation difficulty, passing, or defense, so pair efficiency with role before ranking players.
The modern synthesis is simple: want the full scoring story, use TS%; want to isolate the jumper, use eFG%; want volume, check points per game. Together the three numbers describe almost everything a scorer does, which is why all three appear in every serious player evaluation.
How the three point era lifted TS%
League average true shooting has climbed from the low 52 percent range in the early 2000s to around 57 to 58 percent today, and the three pointer did almost all of the lifting. As teams replaced long twos with threes, points per shot attempt rose across the league without anyone becoming a better shooter in absolute terms. The math of shot selection moved faster than the skill of shooting.
The 0.44 free throw factor quietly helped too. As offenses spread the floor, driving lanes opened, foul rates on drives rose, and efficient scorers added cheap points at the stripe. A player who combines high three point volume with a strong free throw rate can post a 62 percent TS% that would have led the league twenty years ago.
What has not changed is the hierarchy the stat reveals. The most efficient high volume seasons still belong to players who combine all three scoring currencies: elite three point shooting, relentless rim pressure, and automatic free throws. TS% rewards completeness, which is why the complete scorers keep topping its leaderboards decade after decade.
Fantasy and betting markets have absorbed TS% so thoroughly that it barely offers an edge anymore, but it remains the fastest way to sanity check a scoring narrative. When a hot take claims a player is carrying an offense, one glance at their TS% tells you whether the points came efficiently or expensively. The number will not settle every debate, but it ends the lazy ones.
Young players should note what the stat quietly rewards: getting to the free throw line. Two players with identical jump shots can sit three TS% points apart on foul drawing alone. Learning to initiate contact legally and finish through it is a skill, and true shooting is where that skill shows up in the box score.
Worked Example: The 30-Point Game on 18 Shots
A player scores 30 points on 18 field-goal attempts and 8 free-throw attempts. TS% = 30 / (2 Γ (18 + 0.44 Γ 8)) = 30 / (2 Γ 21.52) = 30 / 43.04 = 69.7 percent. That is an elite scoring night: the league average hovers around 57 to 58 percent, and anything over 65 is star territory for high volume.
Compare a 30-point game built differently: 12-of-25 shooting with 6 free throws. TS% = 30 / (2 Γ (25 + 2.64)) = 30 / 55.28 = 54.3 percent, below average. Same 30 points, wildly different efficiency. This is the entire point of the stat: points per game tells you what happened, TS% tells you what it cost.
Why the 0.44 Factor Exists
Free throws do not map one-to-one onto possessions. A two-shot foul ends one possession; an and-one adds a free throw without a new possession; technical free throws come free. Statisticians settled on 0.44 as the fraction of free-throw attempts that effectively end possessions, after analyzing play-by-play data. It is an estimate, but a well-calibrated one.
The factor is not perfect: players who draw many and-ones or shoot many technicals deviate from it slightly. But across a season, 0.44 lands within a rounding error for nearly everyone, which is why the stat survived decades of scrutiny. Think of it as the exchange rate between free throws and possessions: approximate, stable, and good enough to rank players fairly.
TS% Across Eras: Comparing 1995 to 2025
League-average TS% has climbed from about 54 percent in the mid-1990s to about 58 percent today. The drivers: the three-point revolution (more of the most efficient shot), the decline of the long two (the least efficient shot), and rule changes favoring offense. A 60 percent TS% in 1998 was elite; today it is merely good.
This means cross-era comparisons need context. A player's TS% should be judged against their contemporaries, not against today's average. The stat is still the best single efficiency number in every era; it just needs its era's baseline alongside it. "Plus 4 relative to league average" is the timeless version of the number.
Pro Tips for Reading Box Scores
Check TS% before points when judging a scorer. A 25-point game on 62 percent TS% helped the team; a 25-point game on 50 percent hurt it. Volume without efficiency is just usage, and usage is the easiest thing in basketball to mistake for value.
Pair TS% with free-throw rate (FTA/FGA) to see how the efficiency was built. High TS% with high free-throw rate means a driver who lives at the line; high TS% with low free-throw rate means a shooter. Same number, different player. The combination tells you what to expect next game.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is true shooting percentage?
True shooting percentage measures total scoring efficiency: points divided by (2 times (field goal attempts plus 0.44 times free throw attempts)). It combines two pointers, three pointers, and free throws into one number representing points per shooting possession.
What is a good TS% in basketball?
NBA average is around 57 to 58 percent. Primary scorers should be at 58 plus, 60 plus is elite, and efficient role players can top 62. Below 53 percent on real volume hurts the offense. College and high school averages run lower.
Why is there a 0.44 in the TS% formula?
Not every free throw trip uses a full possession: and ones come attached to a field goal attempt, technicals are bonus, and some fouls lead to one shot. Research found 0.44 times free throw attempts approximates the possessions actually consumed, and the convention stuck.
How is TS% different from eFG%?
Effective field goal percentage covers only field goals and ignores free throws; true shooting adds free throw attempts via the 0.44 factor. TS% is the complete scoring efficiency number, eFG% the pure shooting number. Players who draw many fouls grade clearly better in TS%.
Who has the highest TS% in NBA history?
Career leaders are efficient big men: Artis Gilmore, Tyson Chandler, and DeAndre Jordan sit atop the all time list above 64 percent on dunks and high percentage finishes. Among high volume perimeter stars, Stephen Curry's career mark near 62 percent is the gold standard.
Can TS% exceed 100%?
No. The formula's structure keeps realistic values well under 100 percent; even a perfect game of all made threes with no misses approaches but cannot pass it. If your calculation exceeds 100, check that free throw attempts, not makes, went into the formula.
Does TS% reward three point shooters?
Yes, properly so, because threes genuinely produce more points per attempt. A 40 percent three point shooter scores 1.2 points per attempt, better than a 55 percent two point shooter at 1.1. TS% captures exactly this, which is why spacing era offenses grade so well.
Should I use TS% for youth basketball?
As a coaching aid, yes: it teaches shot selection by showing why layups, free throws, and open threes beat contested long twos. But keep the focus on development and good shots, not on stat chasing, and remember youth free throw rates are erratic.
How does pace affect TS%?
The formula is pace neutral since it divides by possessions used, not minutes. Fast teams get more possessions but the efficiency per possession is what TS% measures. That makes it one of the fairest cross team and cross era comparisons available.
Why do some high scorers have low TS%?
Volume scorers who take difficult late clock shots and rarely get to the line can score 25 points a night at 52 percent TS%. Their creation burden has real value, someone must take those shots, but the efficiency number correctly says the offense pays a price for it.