Former Longhorn LaMarcus Aldridge shifting his game, shooting threes

A legendary forward from the Texas Longhorns basketball program, LaMarcus Aldridge, is adapting his game to the modern NBA with the Spurs this season.

A former star big man from the Texas Longhorns basketball program, LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs, is radically shifting the way he’s playing the game in the modern NBA and changing his team’s fortunes in the process. It wasn’t all that long ago that Aldridge was considered to be one of the more notable names on the trade block this season.

The Spurs are one of the hottest teams in the Western Conference of late, and Aldridge’s improved offensive arsenal and shooting is a large reason why. So far this season, Aldridge is averaging 19.2 points per game, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, while shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from beyond the arc. He’s also tied for a career best in offensive rating so far this season, at 118, and hitting his free throws at a clip just shy of 85 percent.

But the improvement in Aldridge’s shooting from deep this season is allowing him to register a career-best true shooting percentage thus far of 58.6. The last two seasons also saw him set career-bests at the time in true shooting percentage.

For the first time in his career, Aldridge is taking more than seven percent of his shots from three-point range. His three-point attempt rate sits at 16.9 percent so far this season, which is 10.1 percent more than his next highest rate in any individual season.

On his looks from 16-feet and beyond this season, Aldridge is shooting a career-best 46.9 percent. He’s also finding his spots from all over the place, so it’s hard for opposing defenses to get a gauge on how to stop him. Only around 44 percent of the three-pointers that Aldridge attempted this season came from the corners. He’s showing he can really pull up from anywhere.

There’s something that is truly changing in Aldridge’s game this season, and the former Longhorn stud power forward is making his mark on the NBA. He’s never really attempted this many three-point shots in any season previous in his lengthy NBA career.

Aldridge is averaging 2.5 three-point attempts per game this season. He also set a career-high in three pointers made a single game this season, and in three-point attempts in a game. In a win over the Detroit Pistons and a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this season, Aldridge hit five three-pointers in each.

The modern NBA emphasizes big men stretching the floor and effectively shooting from deep. The Milwaukee Bucks stud seven-foot big man Brook Lopez is a good example of how a title contender can weaponize a center that can really stretch the floor.

But the Spurs are also finding their own big man that can space the floor, even after 6-foot-10 forward Davis Bertans linked up with the Washington Wizards over the offseason. Aldridge is doing well to fill the void that was left by Bertans outside of the three-point arc.