The marquee move of this offseason, and the most coveted “return home” since LeBron James rejoined Cleveland last year, was LaMarcus Aldridge deciding to play his first season without a Blazer uniform. Aldridge made the switch to rivals San Antonio Spurs, and is now one of many talented players on their stacked roster. Despite having to compete with veterans Tim Duncan and David West for the big man spot, LA shouldn’t see even the tiniest drop in minutes from last season.
His stats, on the other hand, may see a significant decrease. On Portland, Aldridge was always the first offensive option. Almost every time down the floor the ball was in his hands, and the Blazer offense worked around his isolation plays. Because of this, Aldridge climbed the fantasy ladder with season averages of 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and a block in 71 games played. However, with the pressure of carrying the offense on his back, LA’s field goal percentage has decreased over the past few years.
Becoming a part of San Antonio’s roster alongside Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard means Aldridge won’t see the shot opportunities he did previously. With Popovich’s more precise offense, LA won’t need to shoot as much, but when he does, it will be a higher percentage shot than the ones he’d throw up in Portland. So while his point totals may drop a bit, his field goal percentage will resultantly rise back to his early career marks.
Another benefit of his move to the Spurs is being able to discard the inconsistencies. Aldridge was relied on to make something out of nothing with the Blazers. Although Damian Lillard was the face of the franchise, LA was the primary reason they’d done so well in past years. Aldridge performed well on a nightly basis, but occasionally had a game where he’d only score 12 points and grab six rebounds, hurting fantasy owners who banked on him putting up a double double every time he took the floor.
With San Antonio, swift ball movement will create opportunities for everyone to aid offensive production, not just one or two players. So instead of Aldridge having a poor night shooting but still taking 15 plus shots, he’ll have better opportunities and less pressure to score over 20 a night.
As for injuries, Aldridge has, for the most part, avoided the Portland curse of career ending knee injuries (Oden, Roy, Pryzbilla, etc). He hasn’t played a complete season for Portland in his nine year career, but he also hasn’t missed more than 15 games in each of the last three seasons. He managed to put off hand surgery last year in hopes of helping Portland go far into the playoffs, but ended up having the procedure done a little earlier after their unfortunately quick exit from the playoffs.
Ultimately, Aldridge is no longer an obvious first round pick in fantasy basketball leagues following his departure from Rip City. Playing for San Antonio will lower his point and rebound totals, but increase his percentages and decrease his turnovers, meaning fantasy owners are giving an arm for an arm. While some categories may see a fall, others may see a rise. It will be interesting to see how Aldridge performs this season, and how his fantasy value will once again alter when the Big Three leave and only he and Kawhi Leonard remain on the roster.
Durability: B+
Overall Stats: A-
Consistency: A
Mock Draft Ranking: #10