Can Chris Kaman continue his hot start?

Chris Kaman killed it for the Portland Trail Blazers in preseason this year, but can he keep it up in the regular season? The level of competition will be much higher while his role on the team remains the same: bench scorer. Today we’ll take a look at Kaman’s ridiculous efficiency and what we can expect from him moving forward.

Kaman’s preseason statistics (per game)

Those figures are almost exactly identical to the numbers he put up for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2013-14 season, conveniently, right down to the minutes per game:

Kaman’s 2013-14 season statistics (per game)

There are two major differences here that play directly into each other. The first is that Kaman is coming off of the bench in Portland, as opposed to starting. The second is the 10.0 percent spike in field goal percentage. Kaman has been able to score effortlessly against non-starters. He has never had that luxury before.

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Consider, for a moment, how impressive that 60.8 percent is. There were only two players to average a higher field goal percentage than that last season: DeAndre Jordan (67.6 percent) and Andre Drummond 62.3 percent)—both of whom play way above the rim. Kaman prefers to score off jumpers and little flip-ins. The contrast is illustrated by this dunking breakdown:

Percentage of field goals that were dunks in 2013-14

• Jordan: 69.7 percent

• Drummond: 38.2 percent

• Kaman: 5.1 percent

It is much more difficult to convert at such a high rate when you aren’t a rim rocker. Granted, anything that happens in preseason—including field goal percentage— comes with the usual caveats. That is why we are even having this discussion. So what will Kaman’s contributions look like November through April?

There is no reason to believe that his production will see any sort of steep drop-off. Will he shoot above 60.0 percent? Probably not. However; north of 55.0 would not be unreasonable, given his opposition in a reserve role.

In fact, if he is utilized even more once Head Coach Terry Stotts settles on a regular rotation, his scoring figures may rise despite an anticipated regression in efficiency. The center position will no longer run four deep after opening night, so Kaman will be relied upon more heavily as the Trail Blazers’ best option off the bench.

Interestingly enough, given what we have seen from Kaman thus far, he could actually contribute more in Portland as a bench player than he did in Los Angeles as a starter. The minutes will look about the same, but his job is less grueling.

That is part of why we’ve seen some good defensive numbers from him as well. It is easier to stop Robert Sacre and Spencer Hawes than it is to stop DeMarcus Cousins and Dwight Howard. I do not expect Kaman’s uptick in blocking to diminish. Rebounding either, for similar reasons.

We have a lot to look forward to with Kaman. He will not be the unstoppable juggernaut we saw in preseason, but he will still be a valuable workhorse.