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

2. The outside shooting could take a hit

Following the Allen Crabbe trade, I predicted that the Portland Trail Blazers’ outside shooting would suffer a bit after losing such an efficient floor spacer. I was wrong — it’s stayed relatively the same.

Last season, the Blazers made 10.4 threes on 27.7 attempts per game, which equals out to be 37.5 percent shooting from behind the arc. This season, they’re making 10.8 on 27.1 attempts per game (39.6 percent).

While correlation doesn’t always necessarily equal causation, Aminu has proven to be a much better shooter this season, hitting 3-pointers at a 43.3 percent clip on 3.8 attempts per game. Last season, he shot 3.5 attempts at a 33 percent clip.

In both instances, Aminu shot at the fourth-highest volume of 3-pointers on the team. The difference is that among teammates that played more than 10 minutes per game last season, Aminu ranked seventh in 3-point efficiency. This season, he ranks third.