What is the NBA Player Efficiency Rating and who are the top 5 on its list?

Imagine if these two were on the same teamThose who romanticize the game of basketball almost always have a certain way of understanding the utility of a player, whether he is a point guard, shooting guard or a centre. Like most ball games, basketball too isn’t just about the points scored but every piece that has to fall in the right place for the symphony to bring the roof down.Great teams like the Bulls of the 90s or the Lakers of the early 2000s or Golden State Warriors at the moment have players who do certain things beautifully in aiding the ultimate goal – score and stop the opponent from scoring. However, it helps when romanticism has a practical alternative that lets you look at the value of a player very objectively. The Player Efficiency Rating does exactly that – tries to find the most accurate points-equivalent for the value every player offers. The rating therefore tells you more than just the points scored by a player.It is an indicator of other accomplishments on the field as the calculator uses stats like rebounds, assists, blocks, free throws and steals while deducting rating points for missed shots, fouls and turnovers.Although, John Hollinger himself has admitted to certain inaccuracies with the system, the rating is still as close as it gets at the moment to identify the MVP during a season, especially for basketball lovers who don’t have the time or resources to watch every single game to understand for themselves, who the greatest impact player was.While defenders and bench players have it tough on the rating, it is still an amazing tool to know who has been in sizzling form. After all, a player who assists a lot like Rajon Rondo of the Sacramento Kings is just as important as a player who gets a lot of rebounds like Andre Drummond or a lot of 2-pt field goals like Blake Griffin.Let us look at the top 5 players currently on the Player Efficiency Rating.

#5 Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard is one ofthe best two-way players

An upsurge in recent times saw Leonard push ahead of LeBron James to occupy fifth position with arating of 27.49. Playing in his fifth season, the San Antonio Spurs small forward has already won aChampionship and was adjudged NBA Finals MVP in 2014.

Leonard has to his credit 139 field goals(sixth), 31 steals (seventh) and 22 blocks (20th). With 352 points and a three point shootingpercentage of 0.492 (second behind Dirk Nowitzki), Leonard offers great offensive value while beingone of the leagues best defensive players. He is one of the few players to be in the top 10 in bothoffensive (tenth) and defensive rating (third) justifying his value to the Spurs.

#4 Blake Griffin

Blake is the Clippers offensive spearhead

163 field goals, 401 points at 25.1 PPG make the former NBA Rookie of the Year, one of the bestoffensive players this season. The tall power forward playing for LA Clippers has 8.5 Rebounds PerGame, mostly defensive rebounds to accumulate a Player Efficiency Rating of 28.72.

When it comesto 2-point field goals he has 160/289 making him a reasonably reliable shooter to add to hispresence in the paint, both during defence and offence. Winner of the Slam Dunk Contest in hisRookie Year, Griffin is athletic, tall and has a high-quality all-round game that saw him register as oneof the best Rookies in the NBA history when he was initially drafted and is still going from strength tostrength in his sixth season.

#3 Kevin Durant

After being sidelined with a hamstring injury, KD is back in action

A future legend, the former NBA MVP, Rookie of the Year and Olympic Gold medallist is combiningnicely with Westbrook to keep his team close to the top if not at the top. Up on the heels ofWestbrook with a rating of 31.64, Durant is shooting 28.7 PPG this year, third behind CurryandHarden.

His offensive rating is second only to Andre Iquodala this season, thanks largely to a highfield goal percentage this season as small forward for his team, a role that has helped him set thescoring record for USA in the 2012 Olympics.

#2 Russell Westbrook

With KD back in the squad, Westbrook will be eyeing a Finals spot

Westbrook with 31.7 on the efficiency rating was leading couple of days earlier before conceding thetop spot back to Curry. Oklahoma City Thunders point guard is going at 27.2 PPG this season, almost6 points over his career rate.

He is also averaging 9.9 assists per game, second on the charts behindRondo with an average of 7.2 rebounds per game, demonstrating what an all-round player he hasbeen for his team.

With 463 points, he is next only to Stephen Curry and James Harden but his 169assists and 42 steals make him one of the most valuable players for his team this season. While hispoints per game have dropped by 1 this season compared to last years, Westbrook is still as activewith offensive rebounds and even better with assists, making up for lost ground.

#1 Stephen Curry

With 34.6 on the Player Efficiency Rating at the time of writing the piece, Stephen Curry, consideredone of the greatest shooters of all time, is at the top and why not. With 188 field goals, he is headand shoulders over the rest of the pack, LeBron James, a distant second at 164.

But what makesCurry special is his 90 3-pointers this season, 40 clear of the second best, Damian Lillard who missesa lot more than Curry does. Curry also contributes with assists, 109 of them so far this season,standing at No.8.

He leads the charts in steals too, 46 of them making him a tough player to dealwith. He shoots, and if you mark him closely, he assists and if you ignore him, he steals. No wonderthen that he also leads the points chart with 574, 93 adrift of Houstons James Harden.

A negative onhis resume is the turnovers but the man who scores close to 32 PPG (points per game), with a 6.1APG (assists per game) has an extraordinarily high shooting percentage of 0.605 for 2 pointers and0.939 for free throws. All that put together with his team in decimating form, means Curry has justone place on the charts right at the top.