LaMarcus Aldridge
RETIRED

Player Facts

Height: 6'11"
Weight: 250lbs.

Wingspan: 7'4.75"

Date of Birth:
July 19, 1985
College Experience: Texas (2 years)

Selections

All Star: 7
All-NBA: 5
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 3
Physical Strength: 9
Positional Size: 10
Positional Wingspan: 10
Paint Scoring: 8
Midrange Scoring: 9
Three-Point Scoring: 5
Dribbling: 5
Passing: 3
Perimeter Defense: 2
Interior Defense: 5
Rebounding: 8

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Midrange Force

> Screening and Rolling

> Pick-and-Pop Game

> Post Dominance

> Offensive Rebounding

> Protecting the Paint

> Post Defense + Other Defensive Inputs

> Unproductive Passer

> Three-Point Reluctance

> Defensive Weak Points

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

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*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

LaMarcus Aldridge stylistically is an old school big man who leans into his midrange mastery. He is capable of putting on a clinic in this area with a dependable sweet shooting stroke. Aldridge is strong at 6'11" with a 7'5" wingspan, capable of playing alongside a traditional center or as the lone big.

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Midrange Force

He was the king of the midrange, a status that stuck with him through his Spurs tenure following his younger years in Portland. Aldridge is a great option to have as your screen-setter, popping out or slipping into midrange space. As recently as 2021-2022, he was still tied for fifth-most midrange field goals made per game at the age of 36.

Despite using only a small hop on his jumpers here, LaMarcus' physical gifts allow for a high release point. Aldridge rarely gets his shot blocked and can hit contested, difficult shots regularly. In 2019-2020, he shot 58.6% on twos with a defender 0-2 feet away. He also shot 51.4% on a significantly higher volume with defenders 2-4 feet away.

LaMarcus can throw in a little pass fake off the catch to send defenders running towards other teammates. This typically earns him an even cleaner look. He sources a lot of his midrange looks simply by laying back or trailing the play.

As his teammates over the years like Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, and DeMar DeRozan have gotten dribble penetration, Aldridge has nailed countless open jumpers off of this. LaMarcus likes to wait around either elbow in anticipation of that pass. His primary defender tends to stay low and protect the paint, opening up good looks for Aldridge.

Screening and Rolling

Aldridge is a willing screen setter who uses his big frame to slow opposing guards. He had the fifth most screen assists in 2018-2019, just behind Jusuf Nurkic and Nikola Vucevic. He picks his spots for when to roll to the rack where he can be a powerful finisher.

Driving to the hole was where Aldridge often drew fouls. He averaged 5.7 and 5.5 free throw attempts per 36 minutes in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 respectively. Accuracy wise, LaMarcus has always been one of the best big man shooters at the stripe. He peaked at 85.8% on 4.8 attempts per 36 in 2015-2016.

Pick-and-Pop Game

LaMarcus' bread and butter as the ball screener remains his popping. On pops, he uses a small dip before rising up to get in rhythm. Aldridge has finally expanded his game in 2019-2020, exchanging many of those long twos for triples.

He shot 2.4 above the break threes per contest and nailed 39.9% of them during that season. Overall, he shot a hair under 39% on all threes in both 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

Aldridge has a dependable one-dribble pull-up to steer clear of the recovering big man. He also possesses a very good pump fake that his defenders bite on regularly. A remarkable feat, LaMarcus Aldridge had been in the top six in midrange buckets per game each year from 2011-2012 to 2019-2020. He took home the top spot in five of those years, including 2019-2020.

Weaponizing his accurate jumper, Aldridge could put the ball on the floor to mix things up. He can decisively barrel through open driving angles as soon as he catches it. He looks to finish with slams whenever possible, posting an elite 69.2% clip in the restricted area in 2019-2020. LaMarcus has a fine handle for a big.

Post Dominance

LaMarcus can do damage in the post regardless of the matchup. He bangs with other like-sized bigs or can shoot right over smaller defenders. He also hits the face-up jumper with ease from the high, mid, or low post.

Aldridge's signature move in the post is definitively the turnaround jumper over his right shoulder. Defenses know this move is coming but still cannot do much to stop it. Teams often throw a second defender at LaMarcus as he leaves his feet, but even this usually fails to deter him.

LaMarcus can capably turn over his left shoulder as well if his post defender sits on that right. Balance is a priority for Aldridge as he patiently squares his shoulders to the hoop before firing. In 2019-2020, he scored the second most post points per game at 5.6, trailing only Joel Embiid.

He can do much more than hit jumpers during his post-up sequences. For one, he can quickly turn and take a hook shot after obtaining deep post position. Moreover, LaMarcus can rip through to the baseline whenever defenders hug up to him because of that deadly jumper.

Offensive Rebounding

To round out Aldridge's offensive impact, he is a productive rebounder on this end. He uses brute strength to be a monster on the offensive glass. LaMarcus was in the 2018-2019 top 10 for total offensive boards. In addition, he finished 2019-2020 in the 81st percentile for putback scoring.

Protecting the Paint

He was a strong interior presence defensively. Aldridge was an above-average rim protector with such lengthy arms. He stymied opponents in the paint to the tune of 1.8 blocks per 36 minutes in 2019-2020.

Aldridge held his men to 10% below their typical average within six feet of the rim in 2018-2019. That figure compared favorably to some of the league's premium rim protectors that year. Rudy Gobert's figure was -11.1%, Myles Turner's -8.0%, and Clint Capela's -4.2%.

Post Defense + Other Defensive Inputs

His post defense can still be quite stingy. He can hold his ground with that sturdy build. Also, hooks and other shots here become difficult for opponents given Aldridge's towering standing reach on contests. He placed in the 90th percentile for his work defending the post in 2018-2019.

Additional elements of Aldridge's defense are rebounding and containing slow-developing pick-and-rolls. From a rebounding standpoint, he helps close out possessions for his team with firm box-outs. Alternatively, LaMarcus can manage middle screen-and-rolls that end with the ball-handler at the cup or in the midrange.

WEAKNESSES

Unproductive Passer

Aldridge has always been a sort of black hole in the post. He is not the most willing nor skilled passer on the low block. He has failed to crack even the 3.0 assists per game plateau in any season.

Three-Point Reluctance

He has only recently caved to the trends and began to put up threes. Had he integrated perimeter shooting into his game earlier, he'd likely be far more prolific than he is now. With that nice shooting form and general shot accuracy, he should have been taking even more triples to stretch out the defense.

Defensive Weak Points

He struggles mightily when defending in space. This hinders his switchability, often getting hunted by opposing perimeter players as a desirable matchup. Also, he is uncomfortable guarding at the level of high screens well beyond the basket.

A lack of lateral quickness hampers Aldridge when checking mobile bigs. The modern NBA is chock-full of these player types, so this was more than a small issue for late-career LaMarcus. Bigs comfortable on the perimeter like Blake Griffin and DeMarcus Cousins have historically put up big numbers against Aldridge.

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Beacon Bacon

Dating all the way back to his rookie campaign in 2006-2007, Aldridge had only missed 20+ games in a regular season once