Fantasy Basketball – PER Sleepers

If you know anything about advanced NBA statistics, you have heard of John Hollinger’s PER statistic. For those who do not know what it is, it’s basically a rating given to a player based on their production per minute while taking into account the pace of their team. Any score over 20 is considered very good. Currently, Manu Ginobili leads the league in PER at 32.26.

You can use PER in fantasy basketball to locate sleepers. If a player has a high PER but doesn’t average that many minutes, that could tell you that if the player’s minutes increase, they could become a very good player in the league. Here are five players who average less than 25 minutes per game but have an impressive PER:

23.7 – Louis Williams, Philadelphia 76ers
Williams is 15th in the entire NBA in PER. He’s ahead of such superstars as Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson. While the season is still early, this high PER number for Williams reinforces his sleeper status. If you have roster space, pickup Williams now off of your league’s waiver wire in hopes that his minutes increase.

22.5 – Andrew Bynum, Los Angeles Lakers
If you’ve watched Bynum play, it’s no surprise that he’s ranked this highly in PER. Bynum looks like he’s going to be a great player. Now that he’s starting, don’t be surprised if his numbers go through the roof.

20.1 – Jordan Farmar, Los Angeles Lakers
Farmar is another sleeper who is currently on the Lakers bench. His PER of 20.1 puts him in the top ten for point guards, ahead of players like Deron Williams and Jason Kidd. If he starts to play more minutes, quickly pick him up.

19.3 – Jose Juan Barea, Dallas Mavericks
Barea is more of a long shot due to the packed roster of the Mavs, but he could be a player you look to add in a dynasty league. His PER is very good so far this season and Barea has played well in summer league and while in the D-League. In a couple years, he could be a very nice piece to a fantasy team.