Picking an MVP for Each NBA Playoff Team Using Analytics
LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio Spurs
nERD: 21.3
LaMarcus Aldridge's averages of 22.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks through six games look great as it is, but they’ve come in only 30.8 minutes per contest. He's also shooting a blistering 62.6% from the field, a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point range, and 95.5% from the free throw line, for a True Shooting Percentage (weighted twos, threes, and free throws) of 68.0%.
His Offensive Rating of 133.2 ranks him fifth this postseason, while his Defensive Rating of 95.7 places him fifth in that category as well. He’s the only player in the NBA Playoffs who ranks in the top five in both, so it should be no surprise that he’s leading the league in both Win Shares Per 48 Minutes with a rate of .375 (a top-five rate of all-time with a minimum of six games if it holds) and PER at 32.8.
He’s not only been the MVP of the Spurs so far this postseason but also arguably of the league as a whole as well. Then again, his teammate, Kawhi Leonard, comes a close second in playoff nERD at 22.8, so perhaps we should be calling them co-MVPs.
