True shooting percentage (TS%)

True shooting percentage measures a basketball player's overall scoring efficiency by combining all three ways of scoring points, two-point field goals, three-point field goals and free throws, into a single rate. It answers a simple question: how many points did this player produce per shooting possession used, correctly weighting the extra value of a three and the low cost of a free throw.

The formula is TS% = PTS / (2 × (FGA + 0.44 × FTA)). The 0.44 factor approximates the share of free-throw trips that came from two shots rather than three, such as and-one plays and technical fouls, so it isn't simply "one FTA equals one shot." This is a refinement of effective field goal percentage, which handles the value of threes but ignores free throws entirely, and a fairer comparison than raw field-goal percentage, which treats every shot as worth the same two points.

Analysts pair TS% with usage rate because efficiency and shot volume trade off: a player who takes difficult, high-usage shots will often show lower TS% than a low-usage role player taking only easy looks, so neither number alone tells the full story. TS% also says nothing about shot difficulty or shot selection against strong defenses, and it can be inflated by a high free-throw rate that doesn't reflect scoring skill in the flow of offense.