Zach LaVine, Brayden Burries and Scotty Pippen Jr. share the 2026-27 preseason steals lead

Zach LaVine closed the 2026-27 preseason tied for the league lead in steals, picking off 10 passes in four games for the Sacramento Kings. He shares the 2.5-a-game mark with Milwaukee rookie Brayden Burries and Memphis guard Scotty Pippen Jr., and the bigger story sits right behind them: two more Kings, Jonathan Mogbo and Emanuel Sharp, rank fourth and fifth.

LaVine, known far more for his scoring than his defense, recorded at least three steals in three of his four outings. His best night came in a loss at the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, October 8 (Game Center), with four steals and no turnovers in 23 minutes. He finished the exhibition schedule with 20 points and three steals at San Antonio on Friday, October 16 (Game Center).

The preseason steals top 10

The table covers all 67 completed preseason games on the WhyNBA scoreboard, from Saturday, October 3 through Friday, October 16. To qualify a player needed at least three appearances. SPG is steals per game, MPG is minutes per game, and tied players share a rank.

Burries’ steady hands, Pippen’s short shifts

Burries was the most consistent thief in the group, with at least two steals in every one of his four games. The rookie’s top line came against Chicago on Wednesday, October 14 (Game Center), when he started and posted 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals while making all eight of his free throws.

Pippen got to the same 10 steals in barely 14 minutes a night, coming off the bench for Memphis and taking the ball away three times in each of his last three games. Over in Sacramento, Mogbo had five steals and eight rebounds at Golden State on Saturday, October 10, and Sharp, the Kings’ leader in total steals with 11, matched that five-steal mark in the finale at San Antonio despite a 1-for-9 shooting night. As a team, the Kings averaged 13.0 steals, third in the preseason behind Detroit (15.0) and New Orleans (13.2).

The single-game preseason high was six, shared by Phoenix’s Jordan Goodwin in only 16 minutes at Chicago on Wednesday, October 7 and Golden State’s De’Anthony Melton against the Lakers on Tuesday, October 13. Exhibition minutes are uneven, so treat these numbers as a read on camp form; the regular-season race will build on the league leaders page.

What comes next

All three co-leaders open on Wednesday, October 21. Burries and the Bucks visit the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m. ET (Game Center), Pippen and the Grizzlies host the Utah Jazz at 8 p.m. ET (Game Center), and LaVine’s Kings play at the LA Clippers at 10:30 p.m. ET (Game Center).