NBA standings ordered by free throw attempts: Anthony Davis and the Lakers dominate the line

Once again, the Los Angeles Lakers are shooting a lot of free throws. That's not a big surprise — LA has finished top ten of free throw attempts each of the past six seasons, and in the top two each of the past two years.

Finding out why isn't usually too hard; the Lakers two best players, Anthony Davis and LeBron James, thrive on drives and are nearly impossible to stop without fouling.

Los Angeles isn't the only team that likes to live at the line, though. Denver isn't far behind — but after those two teams, we see fewer elite teams at the top of the list, and more rebuilding teams. Here are the five best teams in the NBA at getting to the line.

1. Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles is shooting 26.2 free throws per game, which is a slight increase from last year's 24.2.

The biggest cause of LA's high FTA number is an increased aggression from Anthony Davis on the offensive end. Davis has always been an elite two-way player, but in his first year under JJ Redick, AD is going bonkers scoring the basketball, highlighted by 40 percent 3-point shooting clip and a career-high 10.3 free throw attempts per game. That leads the NBA right now, barely topping Giannis Antetokounmpo, who shoots 10.1 free throws per game.

LeBron James is, unsurprisingly, the Laker who gets to the line second-most, but James is actually shooting fewer free throws this season (5.3) than he ever has in the NBA. We're still in the early days of the season, and that number will likely rise as winter trudges on, but it's worth monitoring. When you're 40 years old, getting fouled probably isn't as fun as it used to be.

Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided’s daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend! If you don’t like The Whiteboard, share it with an enemy!

Every year, some fans complain that Los Angeles shoots too many free throws or gets calls that other teams don't get. I'm not going to say Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Austin Reaves don't get good whistles (they do) but this team is ultra-aggressive inside the arc, and free throws are bound to come with that aggressiveness.

2. Denver Nuggets

Unlike the Lakers and AD, the Denver Nuggets don't quite have one player who dominates the line. The team shoots 25.2 free throws a game, with Nikola Jokic leading the way at 7.1 attempts per game, but it's more a balanced effort from the charity stripe for the Nugs.

Russell Westbrook, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr and Peyton Watson all average at least 2 free throws per game.

The problem here is that Denver doesn't actually make that many of its free throws — ranking 27th in the NBA in free throw percentage, leading to the age-old question: is it better to shoot a free throw and miss, or to have never shot a free throw at all?

3. Utah Jazz

There haven't been a ton of bright spots for the 4-12 Jazz this season, but they do get to the free throw line, so... that's gotta count for something, right? At 25.1 attempts per game, Utah is near the top of the league in free throw attempts, led by Lauri Markannen who shoots 5.7 a game.

Utah also actually shoots free throws better than both Los Angeles and Denver. The Jazz are seventh in free throw percentage compared to 14th for LAL and 27th for Denver.

4. Toronto Raptors

The only team on this list with two players who shoot more than 6 free throw attempts per game, Scottie Barnes (6.8) and RJ Barrett (6.7) are both crafty at drawing fouls. Gradey Dick is developing that same creativity, too, shooting 4 free throws a game in his second season, up from 0.9 in his rookie campaign.

5. Atlanta Hawks

When Trae Young is leading your time, you're bound to get to the free throw line. Call it "foul baiting" if you want, but as long as Young keeps getting calls, why would he stop?

In his seventh NBA season, Young is actually getting to the line fewer times per game than any season since his rookie year (6.8 attempts) but he's likely to pick that up, along with the rest of his stats, as the season progresses. Atlanta shoots 24.7 attempts as a team, with DeAndre Hunter, Jalen Johnson and 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher getting there relatively often as well.