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After moving over from the Portland Trail Blazers to the San Antonio Spurs last season, LaMarcus Aldridge experienced an expected dip in most of his numbers.
He was the first scoring option, or at least option 1B, along with Damian Lillard in Portland. With the Spurs, his usage rate rate dropped by nearly five percent thanks to their depth across the board.
He averaged less points, rebounds, and minutes per game, but that was all according to plan. Aldridge still made the most of his opportunities when he got them, posting a 22.4 player efficiency rating, just behind his final year with the Blazers.
Perhaps the most impressive mark was LaMarcus' free-throw shooting. Other than a couple of slight drops, his FT% has steadily increased over all 10 years of his career.
Last season, he shot a career-best 85.8 percent from the line. Here's a graph illustrating his consistent improvement:
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Eventually, this trend will probably slow down, but it's a lesson for big men who struggle from the charity stripe that it is possible to bump those numbers up. Probably not to 86 percent, but at least some improvement can occur with the right work regime.
Having a center who can perform from the free-throw line is a huge asset for the Spurs and head coach Gregg Popovich. Aldridge will never replace Tim Duncan, but he's an important asset that will be vital to San Antonio's success in the near future.
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