NBA Chemistry: Positive and Negative Synergies in Basketball

International Journal of Computer Science in Sport, December 2013

20 Pages Posted: 30 Sep 2011 Last revised: 11 Feb 2016

See all articles by Allan Maymin

Allan Maymin

AllianceBernstein

Philip Maymin

Fairfield University - Charles F. Dolan School of Business; Athletes Unlimited

Eugene Shen

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: October 31, 2013

Abstract

We introduce a novel Skills Plus Minus (“SPM”) framework to measure on-court chemistry in basketball. First, we evaluate each player’s offense and defense in the SPM framework based on three basic categories of skills: scoring, rebounding, and ball-handling. We then simulate games using the skill ratings of the ten players on the court. The results of the simulations measure the effectiveness of individual players as well as the 5-player lineup, so we can then calculate the synergies of each NBA team by comparing their 5-player lineup’s effectiveness to the “sum-of-the-parts.” We find that these synergies can be large and meaningful. Because skills have different synergies with other skills, our framework predicts that a player’s value is dependent on the other nine players on the court. Therefore, the desirability of a free agent depends on the players currently on the roster. Indeed, our framework is able to generate mutually beneficial trades between teams. Other ratings systems cannot generate mutually beneficial trades since one player is always rated above another. We find more than two hundred mutually beneficial trades between NBA teams, situations where the skills of the traded players fit better on their trading partner’s team.

Keywords: Synergies, chemistry, player rankings, mutually beneficial trades, intangibles, NBA

JEL Classification: L83, G11, G14

Suggested Citation

Maymin, Allan and Maymin, Philip and Shen, Eugene, NBA Chemistry: Positive and Negative Synergies in Basketball (October 31, 2013). International Journal of Computer Science in Sport, December 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1935972 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1935972

Allan Maymin

AllianceBernstein ( email )

1345 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10105
United States

Philip Maymin (Contact Author)

Fairfield University - Charles F. Dolan School of Business ( email )

N. Benson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
United States

Athletes Unlimited ( email )

888 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10106
United States

Eugene Shen

affiliation not provided to SSRN

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