San Antonio Spurs: 3 players facing the most pressure in 2018-19
By Luke Swiatek
3. LaMarcus Aldridge
LaMarcus Aldridge’s role on offense should theoretically be easier. DeMar DeRozan can step in as the primary option, but Aldridge’s usage rate should still stay nice and high. Having two of the best mid-range shooters in the NBA running the pick-and-pop together should be very effective.
On defense, that’s not exactly the case. While Aldridge doesn’t always have the best reputation on defense, the advanced stats still say that he’s pretty effective on that end.
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Last year was the first time since Aldridge’s rookie season that he played more than 50 percent of his minutes at center (he was at 62 percent for the 2017-18 season). He played fairly well in that position, but things are only going to get harder for him this year.
Aldridge is decent at switching onto smaller players on the perimeter (assuming they’re not Stephen Curry or another top-tier guy), and he can play solid positional defense too. His biggest defensive weakness is that he’s not a true rim protector. That’ll be a problem on this roster.
Kawhi Leonard is the best perimeter defender in the league when healthy. Danny Green has started to decline a bit, but he’s still an above-average defender. Kyle Anderson was solid as well.
All three are gone now, and they’re being replaced with Marco Belinelli and DeMar DeRozan, who aren’t exactly known for their defense. Whereas last year’s group was good at limiting penetration, some games could end up looking like a layup line.
Aldridge will be tasked with cleaning up a lot more messes than usual this year, and it remains to be seen if he can handle it. With the San Antonio Spurs’ defense — and therefore their playoff aspirations — depending largely on Aldridge, he’ll certainly be under a lot more pressure this year.