Are Portland Media Members Running LaMarcus Aldridge Out Of Town?

This last week has been a slow sports week. A lot of talk about the MLB All-Star Game, Aaron Hernandez and the Tour de France. Nothing that typically grabs the attention of the average sports bystander. In situations like this, the media has been accused of forcing or fabricating stories to steal headlines during a down week. Some of that may have played a role in the reports from sources close to Chris Haynes at CSNNW. 

Late Wednesday night, there were reports that representatives for LaMarcus Aldridge met with Portland General Manager Neil Olshey to discuss trade opportunities to send Aldridge out of town. The report from Haynes said that the Blazers will not trade Aldridge just for a package of picks, that it will take a superstar type player to drag Aldridge away from the Blazers with two years left on his contract. 

Haynes and CSNNW are both incredibly reputable and I have an increasingly hard time questioning their reporting procedures or reasoning for making these reports public. But an Aldridge tweet on Thursday morning made me think that all of these "reports" may be having a negative impact on the Blazers’ leverage when it comes to the Aldridge situation. 

@Aldridge_12 tweeted….

"I guess we making up stuff now huh….. Been in Dallas for going on two weeks. Smh"

I went back and re-read the Haynes report and it said nothing about Aldridge personally being in attendance at these meetings in Las Vegas and this tweet may be completely unrelated to the situation. However I feel like it needs to be asked…

Are Portland media members rushing to be the first to report something, while at the same time distancing themselves (and in turn the city of Portland) from the franchise's All-Star?

Reports around the draft said that Aldridge never demanded a trade and would be more than happy to return and play in Portland. Will that all change if these "made up" reports continue to surface?

We don't know who Haynes' sources were; we don't know whether a meeting happened or not. I do know, however, that this team is much better off with a happy and productive Aldridge leading this team into a new season.