What Al-Farouq Aminu offers the Portland Trail Blazers

The moment July moratorium began on Tuesday night, the Portland Trail Blazers came to an agreement with free agent forward Al-Farouq Aminu. The Trail Blazers will sign Aminu to a four year, $30 million contract on July 9, when moratorium is ended. Aminu will then, in theory, fill the vacancy in Portland’s starting lineup left by Nicolas Batum. Now that these events have been set in motion, let us look more closely at what the Trail Blazers just bought themselves.

Aminu can be considered a defensive specialist. His length, lateral quickness, and footwork are ideal for hampering ball handlers in the pick-and-roll. This could come in handy if the Trail Blazers want to use him to hide Damian Lillard on defense the way they did with Batum. Aminu is comfortable defending an opponent’s best player, and can do so with success in isolation as well. He sometimes allows more space on jump shooters than is advisable, but uses his aforementioned length to bother them nonetheless.

In Dallas last season, Aminu acted as the Mavericks’ defensive stopper, as far as wings are concerned. With Aminu on the court, Mavericks’ opponents posted an average offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) of 103.6. With Aminu off the court, Mavericks’ opponents posted an average offensive rating of 107.6. That net of -4.0 with Aminu on the court was actually greater than that of 2012 Defensive Player of the Year and former teammate Tyson Chandler (-3.3).

This is why, despite his lack of shooting, Aminu was so coveted on the open market, and probably why the Trail Blazers felt comfortable trading the similarly skilled Rondae Hollis-Jefferson on draft night. Aminu was the most acquirable forward with that kind of upside. At just 24 years old, he is only going to get better. Locking him in at $7.5M per season (contract structure pending) for four seasons is exactly what Portland wanted. After the projected cap increases in 2016 and 2017, that $7.5M will account for a mere sliver of the Trail Blazers’ overall salary.

Apr 15, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Allen Crabbe (23) guards Dallas Mavericks forward Al-Farouq Aminu (7) during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Trail Blazers 114-98. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Of course, the hope is that Aminu will be able to expand his game during that time. His shooting is not bad enough to have a distinctly negative impact on a team’s offense, but it doesn’t exactly have a positive impact either. Aminu shot just 27.4 percent from deep and 41.2 percent from the field in 2014-15. His inability to space the floor would be more permissible if he were better on the drive, but the offense just isn’t there yet. Consequently, he is rarely used as a scorer.

Thankfully, Aminu can still make plays on the offensive glass. Near optimal physical tools paired with excellent instincts make him a strong rebounder for his position. At 6’9” with a massive 7’3” wingspan and reasonable leaping ability, he clears the fray with relative ease. His career average of 8.6 rebounds per 36 minutes, while not a conclusive figure, bodes well for his anticipated starting role with the Trail Blazers; a team that placed 1st and 2nd in total rebounds for 2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively.

Trail Blazers President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey has been high on Aminu for some time, having been General Manager of the Los Angeles Clippers in 2010 when they drafted him. The two are now reunited in Rip City, as are Aminu and Chris Kaman, who were both components in the controversial trade that brought Chris Paul to the Clippers in 2011. Aminu and Kaman have already played two whole seasons together and should gel on the court in no time at all.

Overall, the upcoming Aminu signing is a respectable win for the Trail Blazers. They continued their trend of getting younger and more athletic, while still saving enough money to pursue their own free agents. It is now up to LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, and Robin Lopez to determine what the roster will look like in 2015-16, but Portland now has some degree of stability with the small forward slot already tended to. The identity of the team is changing piece by piece in mostly positive ways thus far.

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