In a preseason game on Oct. 10, the Phoenix Suns missed six consecutive 3-pointers during one possession. Old-school NBA fans surely saw the clip and lamented the play as an example of what’s wrong with “modern basketball.”
Indeed, NBA teams attempt—and miss—more 3-pointers than ever, but another “modern” aspect of that play was that the Suns recovered the offensive rebound on each of their six misses. The league-wide percentage of rebounds claimed by the offense has risen each of the past four seasons, according to NBA.com data. Despite offensive players operating further from the basket than ever, the offensive rebounding rate of 29.3% in 2024-25 was the highest in more than a decade.
In the 2025 preseason, teams appear to be doubling down on their recent approach of crashing the glass, grabbing rebounds on 31.7% of misses. That’s by far the highest rate of any preseason or regular season since 2005.
One preseason is a small sample—teams only play between four and six games—so there can be noise in the data. In the 2017 preseason, for instance, the offensive rebounding rate dipped all the way to an unusually low 22.3%, but the regular season rate was still 26.7%. Generally, however, the preseason is at least directionally predictive. In each of the past 15 years, every time the offensive rebounding rate increased from one preseason to the next, then it also did so in the regular season, and vice versa.
Last season, the Houston Rockets posted an offensive rebounding rate of 36.3% en route to a surprising 52-win season. Despite losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Golden State Warriors, Houston outscored them by 32 points when big men Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun shared the court and dominated the boards.
Across the league, offenses have peaked historically in the 2020s due to improvements in spacing, shooting ability and shot selection. Grabbing more offensive rebounds is seen as one of the last remaining pieces of low-hanging fruit in the pursuit of efficiency.
Offensive rebounding, though, is a different skill now than it used to be. For the first time in NBA history last season there were more missed 3-pointers than missed 2-pointers. Strength and interior positioning still matter, but so do the anticipation and speed required to track down long rebounds.
And as for that increase in missed threes, expect the trend to continue this season. The 3-point attempt rate in the 2025 preseason has been even higher than last season’s record-setting mark.