Our friends at numberFire know a thing or two about statistics. And while we here at SLAM tend to rely more on the eye test when it comes to our NBA opinions, we appreciate that advanced stats are an important thing to keep an eye on.
For the last few weeks we’ve been running numberFire’s Team Power Rankings. This week, we’re introducing their individual player efficiency rankings. We’ll let them explain…
numberFire Efficiency Rating Derivative (NERD) is a system of evaluating every player in the NBA based on various offensive and defensive efficiency metrics. NERD rating for players shows production in efficiency. Visit numberFire to check out a detailed explanation of the NERD stat for player efficiency and basketball efficiency stats in general.
Below are numberFire’s NBA player rankings to this point in the year. The statistics are updated daily.
Extra Points:
• Reigning MVP Stephen Curry holds the No. 1 spot in the power rankings with 5.2 points separating him from No. 2 Kawhi Leonard (the largest gap in nERD in the top 25)
• Eight teams have at least 2 players in the top 25 in nERD. (nERD rating in parenthesis):
- Golden State Warriors (2) – Stephen Curry (25.5), Draymond Green (8.7)
- San Antonio Spurs (2) – Kawhi Leonard (20.3), LaMarcus Aldridge (11.1)
- OKC Thunder (3) – Kevin Durant (18.8), Russell Westbrook (15.0), Enes Kanter (8.9)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (2) – LeBron James (14.7), Tristan Thompson (8.0)
- Toronto Raptors (3) – Kyle Lowry (14.5), DeMar Derozan (7.4) Jonas Valanciunas (7.3)
- LA Clippers (2) – Chris Paul (14.4), DeAndre Jordan (13.0)
- Miami Heat (2) – Hassan Whiteside (11.2), Chris Bosh (7.0)
- Atlanta Hawks (2) – Paul Millsap (9.5), Al Horford (9.1)
• Two players in the top 10 in nERD did not make their respective All-Star teams: DeAndre Jordan and Hassan Whiteside.
• Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic, and Boban Marjanovic are the only three rookies in the top 50 in nERD.
