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Trail Blazers: Small-Ball Can Make Al-Farouq Aminu Shine

By Carlos Diaz

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Al-Farouq Aminu is listed as a small forward but his destiny may reside at the power forward position. There are legitimate concerns to Aminu being a small-ball power forward for the Portland Trail Blazers, but he was never much of a traditional small forward to begin with.

He lacks a consistent shot and off-the-dribble game that will always limit his usefulness at that position, however if he were to move to the power forward, these deficiencies would become less glaring.

It’s a popular misconception to assume small-ball power forwards need to be shooters to be successful. Despite playing as a stretch four for the Warriors last season, Draymond Green isn’t exactly a knock down shooter. He only averaged 34 percent from three-point range.

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Shawn Marion–perhaps the archetype of the modern small-ball power forward–never shot better than 33 percent from three during his time with the Seven Seconds or Less Phoenix Suns. Admittedly Aminu isn’t the playmaker Marion was and Green is, but he does have more in common with them than not.

Like them, his greatest strength is probably his defensive versatility. He can legitimately guard three positions, and can at least bother the shot of opposing players with his 7′ 3” wingspan. Last year, he ranked sixth among small forwards with a defensive real plus-minus of 2.93. The Mavericks also had a defensive rating of 101.4 with him on the floor compared to 105.0 with him off.

Besides being a superior defender, Aminu is a beast on the glass; he pulled down nine rebounds per 36 minutes last season. Most of those minutes were at the small position so there might be an uptick in production if he plays more minutes as a power forward.

Although he has a slighter build than traditional power forwards, there are few behemoths with post up games in the NBA that can make the Trail Blazers pay for using small-ball lineups.

Despite being a work in progress on the offensive end, he isn’t completely hopeless. He showed glimpses, albeit small ones, of having the ability to hit corner threes, shooting 31 percent from the corners last season. He might not be entering the All-Star three-point contest anytime soon but he shoots with little hesitation, which is encouraging:

He can run the floor and can finish in traffic as well. He scored 1.26 points per possession (PPP) in transition last year, and managed to score at least one point from a transition play 63.9 percent of the time he attempted one.

Considering most small-ball lineups play at a high pace this is a very good sign. He has also flashed signs of being able to make plays off-the-dribble against an unset defense:

While Aminu as a full-time stretch four does open a few possibilities, it probably isn’t an option, at least not yet. Even putting aside the sudden influx of big men on the roster that need playing time, there’s too much uncertainty surrounding the team in general to make a commitment to such a demanding playing style; the starting five isn’t even set yet.

A small-ball lineup featuring Aminu at the 4 will probably be productive but the Trail Blazers need time to play together and define their identity before this idea can be put into practice.

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