San Antonio Spurs: LaMarcus Aldridge should be in MVP conversation

The San Antonio Spurs have had comparibly little to celebrate this season. One thing they have had is the tremendous play of LaMarcus Aldridge.

At the start of the season, LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs was not in a good place. He was openly talking about being unhappy with his role within the offense. Head coach Gregg Popovich listened and in the end, Aldridge received a contract extension prior to the season.

It is lucky for the Spurs that the two parties came to an agreement. To this point of the season, team superstar Kawhi Leonard has played only nine games. This is a massive hole to fill at both ends of the court.

Not only is Leonard a perennial MVP candidate, he is also a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. This type of play and leadership is hard to replace. It is also hard to replace 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Leonard is also incredibly efficient, shooting .485/.380/.880 last season.

It takes a special player with an ability to step up who can carry a team for a season. Aldridge has done this with Kawhi sidelined, both statistically and as a true leader. Here is a breakdown of how Aldridge has truly stepped up this season and why he deserves to be somewhere in the MVP conversation.

By the numbers

Aldridge has put up incredible numbers this season. His 23.2 points per game represent the second-best scoring average of his career and easily his best since joining the Spurs. In fact, Aldridge has increased his scoring average by almost six points per game over last season.

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In order to do this, Aldridge has taken 18.0 shots per game this season as opposed to 14.6 last season. He is making 9.2 shots per game this season as opposed to 6.9 last season. This means his field goal percentage has improved from 47.7 percent to 50.8 percent.

Aldridge is also spacing the floor for himself, making it even harder to guard him. He is shooting 27.4 percent of his shots from 0-3 feet, making 77.3 percent of these shots taken. From 3-10 feet, Aldridge is taking 21.0 percent of his shots, making 44.3 percent.

It is his long 2-point shots that are causing difficulties for opposing defenses, with 25.0 percent of Aldridge’s shots are taken from between 10-16 feet. His percentage from this distance is 43.1 percent, meaning you cannot leave Aldridge open anywhere on offense

Looking deeper into the advanced stats, Aldridge is having a season for the record books. His true shooting percent is 56.9, which is his best ever. His Player Efficiency Rating is also a career-best at 24.8. To put this into perspective, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder has a PER of 24.9 for the season.

Game impact

So far on the season, Aldridge has had 16 games where he has scored 30 points or more. In these games the Spurs have gone 11-5. He is showing that he can step up against the better teams, since 11 of those games came against playoff teams.

In the 24 games where Aldridge has a double-double, the Spurs are 12-12. Drilling deeper, in the six games where Aldridge has a double-double where he has scored more than 30 points, the Spurs are 4-2.

This season, Aldridge is 12th in the NBA in points per game (23.2) and 18th in rebounds per game (8.4). He is also 21st in blocks per game (1.2). However, it is not just numbers that should impact the MVP voting.

Aldridge has been the difference between his team winning and losing. When a big bucket or a stop is needed, Aldridge is there. His win shares per 48 minutes stand at .210, which compares well with MVP candidate LeBron James, whose number is .225.

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While he may not win MVP over the clear frontrunner in James Harden, Aldridge has quite clearly had a tremendous year, which the San Antonio Spurs needed. He should at least be in the conversation.