Halfway. Small Forwards. Notes from NBA Stat Audit.

Every year after each team has played their 41st game of the NBA season, I do a statistical audit of the players in the league, looking specifically at efficiency per-minute. I analyze each player that has logged at least 300 minutes, plus a select few others that are of note. Here is a quick synopsis on NBA small forwards halfway through the 2013-14 season...

Small Forwards

Top five EFR's overall in 1991-92:
David Robinson, Michael Jordan,
Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon,
and Brad Daugherty. 

The best basketball player in the world plays small forward. Kevin Durant leads the NBA with a ridiculously high efficiency rating of .850. I've been looking at the same efficiency per-minute rating system for north of 25 years. It is VERY RARE to see a player with an EFR at .850 or above. When I have seen that, the player has been a Center. I can recall David Robinson having an EFR of .865 for the 1991-92 season. So, to see Durant do his thing as a "wing" player is very impressive.  

LeBron James ranks second at .776, followed by Carmelo Anthony .658, and Paul George at .618. Those four are the only "threes" that are above .600.

The disparity between the "have's" and "have nots" in the NBA at small forward is huge. There are only four more guys who rate above .500 (Kawhi Leonard, Nic Batum, Thad Young, and Rudy Gay). 

As always, we like to see who ranks in the top 30 at the position that is presently not starting or playing heavy minutes. We find four such cases ...Mirza Teletovic, who some say is a power forward, ranks 15th. Marcus Morris (Phoenix) ranks 18th and in our opinion could make a good case for getting starters minutes in front of P.J. Tucker. Draymond Green ranks 22nd, well ahead of teammate Harrison Barnes (51st). Barnes plays 29 minutes per game. Green plays 19. Maybe the Warriors should look into reversing those numbers.  ...Shawne Williams, waived by the Lakers, was playing out of position in Los Angeles. He is more of a small forward, with his ability to stretch the floor. He ranked 30th. Perhaps he will find his way back into the NBA as a three-man. Williams recently landed with the D-League's L.A. Defenders. 

Antetokounmpo = future star. 

On the flip side, who is ranked outside the top 30 at small forward, that plays starters minutes? There are five: Jeff Green (31st), Matt Barnes (38th), Richard Jefferson (44th), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (45th), and Corey Brewer (46th). It says here that the Minnesota Timberwolves could really help themselves with a more efficient small forward other than Brewer. 

The highest rated rookie small forward is 19 year old Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. He ranks 29th at the position, or already worth of being a low-tier starter. His upside seems virtually unlimited. 


Read Shooting Guards
Read Small Forwards
Read Power Forwards
Read Centers

Efficiency Ratings by position

Our big batch of work to come up with the BasslineSpin.com Efficiency Ratings, by position, for the 2009-10 season can be found here.

Notes from the stat audit are coming next. ...You can always view archived content at www.BasslineSpin.com.

Blazers bolstered by Batum. + NBA notes

Nicolas Batum is having a positive impact on the Portland Trailblazers since returning from injury. Batum is shooting 56% FG and 90% FT as a vital piece of the Blazers - who have won four of their last five games. Portland continues to hold on to the final Western Conference playoff position and I think they WILL maintain that spot—if not move up. Portland now has Andre Miller as the clear cut Point Guard with Steve Blake exiled to Clipper-land. Meanwhile - Marcus Camby helps to fill the hole left by Greg Oden who is out for the year. ...The Pacers continue to stink in part because Brandon Rush plays way too many minutes for as inefficient as he is. Beyond that, the lack of foot speed up front (Troy Murphy, Roy Hibbert) is also a huge factor in Indiana’s 20-39 record. ...Drew Gooden who is on his eighth team in eight NBA seasons, looks as fit and trim right now as I’ve ever seen him be. Gooden is now a Clipper. ...Before any team spends “max money” on Amar’e Stoudemire - they better make sure they have watched him closely as a defender. He is not very good at all on that end of the floor. I would also argue that offensively he will not be as good if he does not have Steve Nash dropping him gifts at the rim. In short, I would NOT spend huge dollars on Amar’e. ...Stoudemire’s Suns teammate Robin Lopez has played very well since his return from injury. Lopez and the improved play of Goran Dragic are two under the radar reasons why Phoenix has been more than just a nuisance in the West. ...Very quietly - Luke Ridnour has been the best Point Guard off the bench in the NBA this season. Ridnour’s efficiency rating (.515) is actually higher than the EFR of Bucks rookie starter Brandon Jennings (.429). 

Notes from midseason NBA efficiency audit. ...Who should be playing in Sacramento

Efficiency matters. The top five NBA Point Guards by efficiency are all on winning teams. The five are: Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Chauncey Billups, and Rajon Rondo. At Shooting Guard - eight of the top ten (not counting Gilbert Arenas) are on teams that would qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today. Those eight are: Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Brandon Roy, Manu Ginobili, Joe Johnson, Jason Richardson, Jamal Crawford, and Vince Carter. The two exceptions are Nor-Cal’s Tyreke Evans (I call him a TWO), and Monta Ellis. Kevin Martin, who has yet to hit his stride since a return from injury, ranks eleventh. I, for one, am hopeful that the Kings do not trade Martin. Efficient Shooting Guards are a valuable commodity in the NBA and although I feel Evans and Martin duplicate each other to some degree - I think you could say the same of Johnson, and Crawford in Atlanta, and that is working out okay last time I checked. If Sacramento does not want to play Evans at Small Forward (where I believe he could play, thus opening up the PG for Sergio Rodriguez, or Beno Udrih) then maybe Martin needs to embrace a sixth man role because it is clear to me that the Kings offense is more cohesive with Rodriguez initiating it. Rodriguez actually gets the Kings into sets - giving a chance for movement by both ball and players. Yes, Rodriguez can be out of control but I think you have to live with that because of his uncanny vision and ability to involve teammates. It is a FACT that the great Steve Nash has more turnovers than any NBA player. It is also a fact that the more involved a player can be on offense - the more likely that player is to be enthused about playing defense. The Kings energy rises with Rodriguez (pictured) at the helm. The most efficient lineup the Kings can have (and this is pure science) is Rodriguez, Martin, Evans, Jason Thompson, and Spencer Hawes. Udrih would spell Rodriguez. Omri Casspi would replace either Martin or Evans, and Jon Brockman would be the first BIG off the bench. When Francisco Garcia returns - his historical efficiency would put him into the mix as the ninth man. The efficiency rating says that Andres Nocioni and Donte Greene would be seldom used as the tenth and eleventh players. Ime Udoka, Sean May, Kenny Thomas and Hilton Armstrong would be the odd men out in this plan. ...Oh yeah - I was breaking down the annual league wide mid-season efficiency rating audit when I digressed into my Kings rant. At Small Forward - four of the top five are on winning teams; Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, and Gerald Wallace. 70% is the number at Power Forward. Seven of the top-ten are on winning teams. Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Dirk Nowitzki, Zach Randolph, Josh Smith, and Kevin Garnett are the seven. At Center we find that efficiency may not matter as much. Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, Nazr Mohammed, and Marc Gasol are the only top-ten Centers on current playoff teams. Meanwhile these five cats in the top-ten are on losing squads: Marcus Camby, Andrew Bogut, Brook Lopez, Samuel Dalembert, and Marresse Speights.