Analyzing PER: Player Efficiency Ratings in SLN 2025

[GX.]

Intro

Jwoo’s recent player rankings got me thinking about a metric to measure the efficiency of players across the league, leading me to my PER (Player Efficiency Rating) formula that rewards scoring and defensive contributions, while also integrating shooting efficiencies (FG%, FT%, 3P%), all normalized over MPG

How Our PER Formula Works

The PER calculation includes:

• Points, Rebounds, Steals, and Blocks as core weighted metrics.

• Turnovers are penalized to reflect inefficiency.

• Shooting Percentages are added and positionally weighted:
  
  • Centers and Forwards: Higher weight on FG%.
  • Guards: Higher weight on FT% and 3P%.

• Minutes Played (MPG): Used to normalize production.

• List is excluding players who have played less than 42 games.

This gives us a nuanced efficiency rating that respects role-based expectations and provides better context than traditional PER.


Average PER by Position

Position Avg PER

SF: 16.65

PF: 16.24

SG: 16.14

C: 14.65

PG: 14.59

Interestingly, Small Forwards lead all positions in average PER, likely due to their blend of scoring, rebounding, and shooting efficiency. Centers and Point Guards trail slightly, perhaps reflecting stricter grading on efficiency or turnovers for guards and limited range for some bigs.

Average PER by Team

After i have compiled the PERs per player i wanted to see how each team stacked up against each other, below is a box and whisker plot with the upper whisker being your highest PER player, the box showing you upper bound, lower bound, and median



Top 5 Teams Median PER:

• Knicks - 18.76

• Magic- 18.62

• Bullets- 18.12

• Raptors- 18.06

• Kings- 18.02

Bottom 5 Teams Median PER:

• Mavs- 13.90

• Grizz- 14.08

• Spurs- 14.59

• Clips- 14.80

• Blazers- 14.84

Standout Players by Position

Here are the top 3 PER performers at each position:

Center (C)

Joel Embiid – Rockets (27.78)

Victor Wembanyama – Raptors (23.88)

Deandre Ayton – Suns (23.16)


Power Forward (PF)

Rui Hachimura – Magic (26.65)

Domantas Sabonis – SuperSonics (23.43)

Kristaps Porzingis – Bucks (22.21)


Small Forward (SF)

Luka Doncic – Bulls (27.00)

Aaron Gordon – Nets (26.37)

Nikola Jokic – Raptors (25.79)


Shooting Guard (SG)

Cade Cunningham – Pistons (22.71)

Jalen Brunson – SuperSonics (22.67)

Jalen Green - Knicks (21.94)


Point Guard (PG)

Kyrie Irving – Knicks (25.92)

James Harden – Heat (21.15)

Markelle Fultz – Suns (20.25)


Takeaways

Elite efficiency is not confined to one archetype — stars like Embiid, Luka, and Kyrie all shine within different positional contexts.

Wings (SF/SG) appear to provide the best blend of volume and efficiency, contributing across the board while maintaining strong shooting metrics.

Having an Average team PER above the median correlates to a strong win %

Let me know your thoughts, next to come is a contract efficiency metric to finally show Herro is that dude

[Wes]

Something must be flawed if there’s no Bullets in any of the top 3’s

[GX.]

Something must be flawed if there’s no Bullets in any of the top 3’s

AD 4 Maxy 4

[scoops]

but james harden's not a top 100 player i thought

[Wes]

AD is significantly better than Ayton at rebounds, steals, blocks, TO efficiency, and FT% that the slightly better PPG and FG% shouldn't make Ayton have a better PER. Seems like this proprietary metric needs some rejiggering

[Wes]

My bad, once I reread this and saw Malik Beasley as the #3 SG I realized this was a mickey mouse list

[jwoo]

but james harden's not a top 100 player i thought

He’s on the list, no?

[nolan]

So Embiid is better than Kyrie, Luka, and Jokic? Liked and subscribed

[pacers]

wes on a tear today

[scoops]

but james harden's not a top 100 player i thought

He’s on the list, no?

but i need to get my eyes fixed