Metrics 101: Ranking NBA's Top 10 Available Trade Targets - Bleacher Report

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Not every target at the NBA's trade deadline is created equal. 

Franchise-altering forces are rarely made available, and no players in that category (we're talking about a DeMarcus Cousins or Paul George) have been rumored to be on the move before February 8. But teams in search of in-season injections still have to decide whether they're looking for a player on the All-Star-contention outskirts or a role player who can help improve the second unit. 

And we have plenty of options in those categories. 

To objectively determine how this year's premier options stack up, we focus only on the 2017-18 season while turning back to a formula for Player Score we've used in previous articles. 

We looked at all 294 players who have logged at least 500 minutes and then pulled their scores in three different overarching metrics: NBA Math's total points added (TPA), ESPN.com's real plus/minus wins (RPM Wins) and player efficiency rating (PER). The first two look at volume/efficiency combinations, while the latter focuses on per-possession effectiveness and favors offensive production. Volume and time on the court matter more than they might in other evaluations.

To standardize between three metrics that operate on drastically different scales, we found the z-scores in each category and summed them to find a player's total score. Those z-scores are the numbers you'll see parenthetically included for contributors throughout this article, and they're all that matter for this particular countdown. 

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Rocky Widner/Getty Images

2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 12.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.0 blocks

Advanced Metrics: 35.15 TPA (0.44), 18.5 PER (0.78), 2.29 RPM Wins (0.04)

Derrick Favors has become a bit of a conundrum for the Utah Jazz. They effectively allowed us to include him among possible trade targets when the Salt Lake Tribune's Tony Jones reported that he could be included in a deal for the Bulls' Nikola Mirotic. 

His health has returned, permitting him to suit up in all but three games for the Jazz. So too has his explosion, represented in his dunk tallies: He's already slammed the ball home 25 more times than in 2016-17, and in five fewer contests.

But he still hasn't become the world-beating star they coveted.

In fact, Utah's net rating plunges by 4.1 points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor. He simply hasn't served as a strong fit alongside Ricky Rubio's shooting woes or Donovan Mitchell's desire to push the pace (hence his neutral score in the RPM Wins portion of our calculation). 

As an individual, however, Favors still checks plenty of boxes. He's an incredible athlete who compresses defenses around him when he draws interior touches, and he can capably defend the painted area on the other end. That's enough that he should gain significant interest before the deadline if Utah actually makes him available. 

Honorable Mentions: Courtney Lee, New York Knicks (1.15); Kent Bazemore, Atlanta Hawks (0.96); Julius Randle, Los Angeles Lakers (0.83)

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Layne Murdoch/Getty Images

2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 17.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.4 blocks

Advanced Metrics: 24.46 TPA (0.27), 22.6 PER (1.66), 1.81 RPM Wins (minus-0.2)

Nikola Mirotic can shoot the lights out of the United Center. 

Since returning from his facial fractures, the Chicago Bulls power forward has averaged a whopping 24.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per 36 minutes—numbers produced by only five other qualified players (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Russell Westbrook and Joel Embiid). And he's knocking down 47.5 percent of his field goals, 42.9 percent of his triples and 81.3 percent of his free throws. 

Mirotic hasn't caught fire, so much as fire has caught Mirotic. 

Naturally, this has provided a monumental impact on the surging Bulls, who have used the Montenegrin's flame-throwing tendencies to go 15-10 since his return. His gravitational pull has opened up easier opportunities for everyone on the roster, and the intense defensive pressure he's faced on a nightly basis hasn't prevented him from getting buckets. 

Can he keep this up for a full year? Will he be able to maintain his scorching percentages if he lands with a contender that can't guarantee him as many touches? After all, it's doubtful he'll be able to sustain a 26.5 percent usage rate with a more competitive squad. 

At this point, the only certainty seems to be that he'll wear a different uniform by the end of the year. He's still given no indication of backing off his trade demands—an understandable development after a fight during practice defaced the start of his season. 

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Joe Murphy/Getty Images

2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 18.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.4 blocks

Advanced Metrics: 40.1 TPA (0.52), 17.6 PER (0.59), 3.98 RPM Wins (0.87)

Marc Gasol hasn't been the same player in 2017-18, which is why you're seeing him show up far earlier than you might expect. Barely outpacing Nikola Mirotic would've been shocking even a season ago. But just look at how his scores in the three relevant metrics have trended over the last two campaigns (prorating current-season numbers for ease of comparison): 

• 2016-17: 204.41 TPA, 20.3 PER, 8.69 RPM Wins
• 2017-18: 69.96 TPA, 17.6 PER, 6.94 RPM Wins

If you're thinking of him as last year's dominant center, stop. He's no longer that player and has spent much of the current season operating like Father Time has finally gotten a grip on his career. The 33-year-old looks more than a few steps slower on the defensive end, and he's been unable to create nearly as much space for his sweet-shooting habits. 

This isn't to say Gasol is a bad player. That couldn't be further from the truth. 

He's still served as Memphis' second-best contributor (behind another member of this sloth who'll be showing up later in the countdown) and has continued to impact the defensive proceedings in a significant way. He's just not been the same as in previous seasons, since so much of his all-around dominance relied upon mental acuity and the physical ability to get to those spots he anticipated so effortlessly. 

Most teams would be lucky to have Gasol on the roster. They just shouldn't expect star-caliber production.

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Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 11.8 points, 14.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.0 blocks

Advanced Metrics: 49.6 TPA (0.67), 19.9 PER (1.08), 3.24 RPM Wins (0.51)

Age comes for everyone (except maybe LeBron James...and Dirk Nowitzki...and Vince Carter...and, dammit, I'm defeating my own point!). DeAndre Jordan hasn't been an exception during his 10th season; the 29-year-old center whose game is predicated on extreme levels of athleticism has begun to show some cracks in the high-flying facade.

For quite some time now, Jordan has filled his role to perfection. He's put his hops on display with elite pick-and-roll results, competed for the league lead in rebounds and capably protected the interior of the Los Angeles Clippers' defensive schemes. 

And while he's still ticking off those elements, he's not doing so with quite as much aplomb. 

As a roll man, he's scoring 1.2 points per possession, which places him in the 73rd percentile—a far cry from last year's 1.52 points per possession (99.1 percentile). His defensive real plus/minus has fallen from 2016-17's 3.44 (No. 6 among centers) to its current mark of 1.2 (No. 30). Only his rebounding has trended in the right direction, as he's now averaging an additional board per contest to push his mark to 14.8. 

These are all still strong numbers, hence his ranking here. But teams looking for an infusion of talent at the 5 might want to think twice before giving up too many assets for a declining center pushing 30. 

Yes, I'm talking to you and your Brooklyn Nets pick, Koby Altman. 

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Layne Murdoch/Getty Images

2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 8.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.5 blocks

Advanced Metrics: 64.3 TPA (0.9), 19.7 PER (1.04), 2.89 RPM Wins (0.33)

Despite his high-flying slams, Statue-of-Liberty proclivities and knack for playing above the rim at all times, Larry Nance Jr. isn't the most glamorous player. He often works underneath the radar, even if he's arguably performed like the Los Angeles Lakers' premier individual during the 2017-18 campaign. 

Lonzo Ball gets more hype and is viewed as a foundational piece. Ditto for Brandon Ingram. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson draw more headlines. And yet, Nance is the team's leader in TPA by a substantial margin, narrowly edges out Randle for the top mark in PER and has added the second-most RPM Wins in a purple-and-gold uniform, behind only Ball.  

He's an advanced-stats darling, and for good reason.  

Nance is a gifted defender who translates his athleticism into solid play around the hoop when he's not jetting around the half-court set and disrupting passing lanes. L.A. allows 2.5 fewer points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor—the best on/off differential of any rotation member who didn't play college basketball at UCLA. 

But his offense, even with significant jump-shooting limitations, has been similarly valuable because he knows his game and plays with a heightened level of self-awareness. He doesn't take bad shots or turn the ball over, but instead bides his time until he's allowed to unleash his energy on the tin—hence shooting 60.2 percent from the field. 

What team wouldn't covet this well-rounded skill set that doesn't detract from the squad's efforts? 

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Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 6.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.4 steals, 1.0 blocks

Advanced Metrics: 71.9 TPA (1.02), 19.7 PER (1.04), 2.79 RPM Wins (0.28)

Kyle O'Quinn hasn't really registered on a national level this season, and that's perfectly understandable. The 27-year-old big man is thriving when he gets onto the floor, but he's only logged 17 minutes per game for a middling New York Knicks squad. 

Still, he's been pretty

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