Portland Trail Blazers: Is LaMarcus Aldridge the Most Overlooked MVP Candidate?
As the regular season begins to wind down, speculation about who should be the MVP of the league has become more prominent than ever. Derrick Rose seems to be leading the way, as he's single-handedly led the Chicago Bulls to the No. 1 seed of the Eastern Conference. While Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah were injured, Rose continued to play at a high level, topping the likes of the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat to rise above all teams in the East.
LeBron James, unsurprisingly, has had his name thrown around in MVP talks for bringing the Heat to an exceptional level play, and Dwight Howard, Superman himself, has also been in the conversation for his blocking, rebounding and scoring; he will definitely be among the top for Defensive Player of the Year for the third year in a row.
But isn't there someone missing?
If you expand your horizons a little bit away from the East and look at the Western Conference, you'll notice a team in the No. 6 seed that wouldn't be in the playoffs without one player. A team that's surprised the league with their intensity and has been piggybacked by that same player. Any idea who he is?
Losing both Brandon Roy and Marcus Camby to arthroscopic knee surgeries, Aldridge has put the Portland Trail Blazers on his back and made them a team to be feared in the Western Conference. Averaging 22.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, Aldridge was snubbed as an All-Star, being beat out by the double-double machine, Kevin Love; the future Hall of Famer, Tim Duncan; and the phenomenal rookie, Blake Griffin.
And his averages decreased when Roy and Camby returned, after the All-Star break. Upon receiving the news, Portland's coach Nate McMillan was repugnant.
“Disappointing. If you look at what he has done with this team, for his team, and with all the injuries we’ve had and for us to still be in the race,’’ McMillan said. “His numbers are good enough, and his team winning...it should be good enough to get in there.’’
But now that All-Star conversations are finished, Aldridge should be one of the premier candidates for the MVP Award. If you think about it, he's done the same thing as Derrick Rose, taking an injury-ridden team into the playoffs. And the fact that he's in the Western Conference should put him above all other candidates.
It can't be the way he scores, can it? LaMarcus Aldridge can put the ball in the basket in a variety of ways. He can shoot the midrange jumper, post you up, roll off of you and catch an alley-oop, or he can face you up and take you to the basket.
Aldridge has become the primary offensive option for the Trail Blazers, and he's had 11 thirty-plus-point games to show for it, including outings of 40 and 42 points. Mastering many facets of an efficient offensive repertoire, Aldridge scores at a high rate, shooting 50 percent from the field on the season. And you can't foul him because he shoots 77 percent from the line.
Maybe it's because of his rebounding? Aldridge averages 8.7 rebounds per game. And that number was around 9.4 before Marcus Camby and Gerald Wallace, two well-known rebounders, were added to the rotation. Sure, he's no Dwight Howard, but he rebounds the ball a lot better than some of these other centers and power forwards in the league, and he hasn't been adequately acknowledged for it.
Could it be because of his defense? Aldridge averages 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. They're not flashy numbers, but for a 6'11" power forward/center, it's getting the job done. And most of the time, a block isn't always necessary. Something that doesn't show up on the stat sheet is how many shots a player alters. And with Aldridge now at center, he does a lot of shot-altering for his team.
So what's the final verdict? I'm not trying downplay Derrick Rose, nor am I trying to eliminate LeBron James or Dwight Howard from MVP talks. Rose has been phenomenal this season, and James and Howard have been just as amazing. All I'm saying is that LaMarcus Aldridge deserves to be part of the conversation. His numbers in every category—points, rebounds, steals, blocks and assists—are at the highest they've ever been.
A player at the peak of his career, Aldridge has carried the Portland Trail Blazers on his back and put them in the center of the West as the No. 6 seed. Aldridge is definitely a prime candidate for the Most Valuable Player award, and it would be a shame if he weren't at least in the running for it.
