I agree with Duncan as a stylistic comparison, both in terms of mien and play style. He's just not as talented, which is no slam on Aldridge. He does have a similar type of post game and he has really nice vision out of the post, ala Duncan. Like Duncan, he's a versatile and active defender, he's just not a "franchise defender" (the type of player who anchors a great team defense) like Duncan.
The main difference is that Duncan is a great rebounder and Aldridge is below average for the position.
Good post, Just two minor quibbles.
Aldridge is an above average offensive rebounder. He currently ranks 12th in the league in ORB%. Considering there are a total of 60 starting centers and power forwards in the league, being 12th best is definitely above average. He actually ranks higher in ORB% (10.5 vs. 10.1) than Tim Duncan.
He is an average defensive rebounder for a starting big man. He currently ranks 29th in DRB%. That puts him right in the middle of starting big men.
He ranks 25th in TRB%. So, that makes him very slightly above average (compared to all other players with at least 400 total rebounds). And, he's played 39 of his 56 games next to a starting center with a phenomenal 23.9% TRB% (highest in the league for anyone with over 400 rebounds). FWIW, LaMarcus (13.7 TRB%) is right behind Paul Millsap (13.8 TRB%) in TRB%, and most people consider Millsap a good rebounder. He also ranks ahead of Amare Stoudamire, Chris Bosh and David West in TRB%. His over all rebounding could be better, but LaMarcus Aldridge is slightly above average.
To complete the comparison, he's still way behind Tim Duncan (11th in TRB% = 18.5), who also happens to play next to the 8th best rebounder in the league, DeJuan Blair at TRB% = 19.2. No wonder San Antonio is so damn good. They completely control the glass. Damn, I wanted to draft both Blair and Millsap, and we passed on both multiple times.
In any case, prior to mid-December, you could have said the same think about Aldridge's low post scoring - that it ranks well behind Duncan's. He has shown tremendous improvement in that area in the past 3 months to where now he is being compared to Duncan - and no one is laughing. His passing has also improved signifiantly. Who's to say that with another off-season of work and conditioning, he won't come back next year as an even more complete player with improved defense and rebounding to match his improved low post game? He has proven that he's a hard worker and capable of great improvement and is still a couple years away from his peak. Of course, Duncan came into the league a very complete player, but if Aldridge's peak can approach Duncan's peak, the Blazers have a very special player on their hands - one they can build around.
I say keep Miller, keep Camby, see what Roy can give you off the bench, hope Oden can give you SOMETHING and add a few more proven role players and see how far you can go in the next two years.
BNM
