Every NBA team’s most underrated player
By Tom West
Portland Trail Blazers: Al-Farouq Aminu
Aminu has often been respected for his defensive talents during his NBA career, but as is normally the case, defense is valued and respected far less than good offense. People just seem to pay far more attention to someone who can drop 25 points than someone who can prevent others from doing so. The flash of countless threes and highlight dunks always goes more recognized than great defense. Which means that for players like Aminu, who only excel at the latter, they can often go underrated for their efforts.
As a 6’9″ combo-forward with a 7’3″ wingspan and a reasonable amount of quickness, Aminu has the physical tools to guard multiple positions. Add on his drive and aggressiveness, and the results of his performance can be seen by how poorly players shoot when guarded by him.
Last season, Aminu held opponents to just 41.9 percent shooting. That places him among the likes of elite defenders such as Andrew Bogut (41.4) and Serge Ibaka (40.8). Essentially, Aminu was one of the best in the NBA when it came to killing another play’s offensive efficiency. He even ranked above the likes of Hassan Whiteside, Draymond Green and Kawhi Leonard in that category (which is highly impressive despite Aminu having less responsibility defensively).
This season, he’s also shooting a career-best 35.1 percent from three while making 1.6 per game (more than double any other year of his career). If that becomes a consistent part of his game, and he controls his tendency to take too many, he’ll have the three point element to add to his stellar defense.
Next: Houston Rockets