Feb. 24: NERD Rankings (Player)

Durant’s 51-point game vaults him into the Top 5 in this week’s player efficiency ratings.

numberFire is a sports analytics platform that uses algorithmic modeling to better understand sports—and they’ve developed the numberFire Efficiency Rating Derivative (NERD) to better evaluate every player in the NBA using offensive and defensive efficiency numbers. The nerdier, the better, according to these guys. A player’s NERD rating represents how many games above or below .500 an average team would be if they added him to its roster (based on an 82-game season). For example, LeBron James posted an 18.3 rating in the 2010-11 season, which means that if he played on a team with four league-average players, you would expect that team to finish 18 games over .500 (50-32). An average player has a NERD rating of 0, and to qualify, a player must play at least five minutes per game, based on the team’s total games. Visit numberFire to check out a detailed explanation of the NERD stat for player efficiency and see the full list of NERD rankings.

numberFire says:

Glen “Big Baby” Davis is having a tough year so far, registering a -6.8 NERD. Although he has been one of the most improved players this past week, Davis is still shooting a career-low 37.8% from the field. That poor shooting has him scoring 0.87 points per possession, well below League-average. Big Baby needs to shy away from creating his own shot and make a better effort to take high percentage looks.

Both Gasol brothers currently rank in the top 10 in terms of fantasy basketball production among all players in a standard-style league. The Gasol boys are averaging better than 15-10-3 and both add value to teams with high field goal percentages and block rates. In fact, according to their NERD ratings, Marc and Pau would both add about 10 wins above .500 to a League-average team.

One player who is not typically viewed as an efficient scorer, but has done a great job this year—especially in the absence of Derrick Rose—is Carlos Boozer. Boozer is shooting a hair shy of 54% from the field and is scoring 1.09 points per possession, right near his career average. As a part of the League’s No. 2 defense, Boozer is tied for the No. 2 defensive rating on the team, allowing just 0.95 points per possession. Boozer is tied with Joakim Noah and just behind Omer Asik, both of whom are known for their defensive prowess.

The NERD power rankings are powered by numberFire, a sports analytics platform that uses algorithmic modeling to better understand sports. Follow Nik Bonaddio at @numberfire, and Keith Goldner at @drivebyfootball. Check out numberFire on Facebook.