NBA Playoffs 2017: 5 things we learned from the Warriors beating the Spurs
5. The LaMarcus Aldridge experiment is a failed one
Stay with me here, this isn’t some kind of knee-jerk reaction to what we just witnessed. The case has been building for the ending of the LaMarcus Aldridge era in San Antonio for a while now and this series might have just put the nail in the coffin.
When Aldridge arrived to San Antonio, it seemed to be a match made in a heaven. He was a power forward with nice post-up moves and an outside jumper. Does that remind you of anyone in San Antonio? Aldridge even wears the No. 12, which is a reciprocal of the No. 21 that Tim Duncan wore in his Hall-of-Fame career with the Spurs. All the signs were pointing to a successful combo. Popovich would make Leonard the No. 1 guy and replace Duncan with Aldridge. Yet it’s all falling apart faster than we imagined.
The Spurs’ starting power forward will be 32-years old by the time next season begins. Aldridge is probably past his prime and on the back nine of his career. He’s still a solid third option for a team, but I’m not sure the Spurs can win a championship with him as their second-best player. His numbers across the board were worse this past season than his first year in San Antonio. In 2015-16, Aldridge averaged 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game on 51 percent shooting. This past year, the Spurs’ star scoring 17.3 points and grabbed 7.3 rebounds per game on 47 percent shooting.
In these playoffs, those numbers dropped even further to 16.5 points on 45 percent shooting. In the games without Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs were looking to lean heavily on LaMarcus Aldridge, but he was nowhere to be found. It even got to the point were Popovich called Aldridge out after an abysmal Game 2 performance, stating “LaMarcus has to score for us. He can’t be timid.” It’s rare a coach calls out his star player like that in the media, but Popovich didn’t even hesitate.
Aldridge’s defensive woes were also magnified in this past series against the Warriors. He often got switched onto a smaller Golden State guard and couldn’t hold his own. Stephen Curry salivated every time he had Aldridge on him and it was no different for the other Warriors’ shooters either.
The hopes that general manager R.C. Buford had when he signed LaMarcus Aldridge never came into fruition. The ex-Blazer was hoping he could come to San Antonio in hopes of a title, but it looks like that window might have closed. The Spurs were hoping for a poor-man’s Tim Duncan, but LaMarcus Aldridge could never live up to the hype left by the best power forward to ever play. Aldridge has one more year left on his contract, likely the last season wearing black and white.