Portland Trail Blazers: 3 possible effects of Al-Farouq Aminu injury

3. The defense could suffer a bit

Al-Farouq Aminu is the heart and soul of the Portland Trail Blazers defense and has been for quite some time. Standing at 6’9″ with a 7’3″ wingspan, Chief has the perfect length and skill-set to play all three frontcourt positions.

Last season, the Blazers defense was…pretty bad. According to NBA.com, the Blazers allowed 108.5 points per game and posted a 107.8 defensive rating, which ranked 25th and 21st in the league, respectively. Additionally, they allowed opponents to shoot 37 percent from behind the arc, which ranked 27th in the league.

This season, the Blazers are allowing just 100.0 points per game and 99.1 points per 100 possessions, which rank sixth and fifth in the NBA, respectively. They’re also doing much better defending the arc, limiting opponents to just 33 percent shooting (fifth).

A huge part of the success has to do with Aminu, who has a team-best defensive rating of 93.5. Among all NBA players that currently average more than 20 minutes per game, Aminu’s defensive rating ranks ninth.

The Blazers may be much improved on both ends of the floor, but losing Aminu for a significant amount of time could possibly have a negative effect on their defense. Hopefully, he finds his way back to 100 percent soon.