NERD: NBA Player Rankings

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.

Earlier this year, we gave you a taste of numberFire’s Team Power Rankings. Now, they’re sharing 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:

●  Eight teams have at least two players in the top 25 in nERD. (nERD rating in parenthesis)

  • Golden State Warriors (2) – Stephen Curry (24.4), Draymond Green (9.3)
  • San Antonio Spurs (2) – Kawhi Leonard (20.0), LaMarcus Aldridge (12.3)
  • OKC Thunder (3) – Kevin Durant (19.6), Russell Westbrook (15.8), Enes Kanter (10.1)
  • Cleveland Cavaliers (3) – LeBron James(15.0), Tristan Thompson (8.0), Kevin Love (7.5)
  • Toronto Raptors (3) – Kyle Lowry (11.4), DeMar Derozan (8.2) Jonas Valanciunas (7.6)
  • LA Clippers (2) – Chris Paul (15.2), DeAndre Jordan (12.7)
  • Atlanta Hawks (2) – Paul Millsap (9.9), Al Horford (8.2)
  • Portland Trail Blazers (2) – Ed Davis (6.6), Damian Lillard (6.5)

●  Point Guards and Power Forwards dominate the top of the nERD rankings. Each position has seven players in the top 25 spots.