PER is a player evaluation metric that boils down all of a player’s contributions into one number. John Hollinger‘s formula adds positive stats and subtracts negative ones through a statistical point value system. The average PER is set at 15.
For more information about PER Calculation visit basketball-reference. As the PER largely measures offensive performance -while the calculation seems pretty complex-, it has also limitations on the defensive side. Its creator, Hollinger freely admits that two of the defensive statistics it incorporates blocks and steals can produce a distorted picture of a player’s value and that PER is not a reliable measure of a player’s defensive acumen.
PER has been used publicly and became popular in the early 2010s, and it sure is an important milestone in sports-analytics history.