Many players on the Portland Trail Blazers are beloved amongst fans. Wesley Matthews, who personified dependability and tenacity before his injury, is one of them. Quirky Robin Lopez is another. Meyers Leonard is, too, especially when factoring in his exuberance and the overall improvement he made this season. Routinely clutch Damian Lillard is also, his inconsistent performance in the postseason aside. Then there is LaMarcus Aldridge. Why no mention of the Blazers’ star forward and impending free-agent until now? Because when it comes to Aldridge, who rose from Brandon Roy’s sidekick into confidence-oozing leader, it’s a different kind of beloved. At this stage, with free-agency looming and the power forward responding, “We’ll see,” when asked about a return to Portland, his place in the hearts of Blazers fans doesn’t come without more than just a whiff of fear–fear that he will leave.
All Portland can do is wait. The team hasn’t been in this position in a long time. Roy was injured and decided to retire. That was saddening, but a departure in the making. Since the Blazers have seen players come and go, members of the supporting cast either traded or not retained without creating nearly this amount of noise. Some, like Marcus Camby, who donned a Blazers jersey from 2009-2012, were fan favorites, and his departure notably tugged at heartstrings, but the attachment to Aldridge enters new territory. His presence helped end the ‘Jail Blazers’ era and birth a new one built around young talent with good character. Losing Aldridge would open up a wound that took Portland a long time to fill following Roy’s decline.
Aldridge’s maturation into a star has been quite the sight to behold. When he came into the league out of the University of Texas, he was a 6’11” string bean jump-shooter. His rookie season was spent largely coming off the bench, but with the Zach Randolph era coming to a close, Aldridge made a leap in his sophomore season as Roy’s sidekick. He nearly doubled his rookie season points-per-game average, from 9 to 17, with a mid-range jumper he has since perfected becoming an integral part of his arsenal.
When Roy’s knees betrayed him in 2010, Aldridge, used to the sidekick role while averaging 20 points per game, was forced into a new role. He was the guy, whether he was ready or not. And, having put a great deal of weight on his once slight frame, expanded his game. No longer was he just a jump-shooter; he placed emphasis on scoring in the post and was relentlessly aggressive. As Roy retired a year later, Aldridge was the face of the franchise. Suddenly, the team was building around him, not a duo of stars. And while I’m sure Aldridge would’ve liked nothing more than for he and Roy to form a two-headed monster for years to come, he relished in the star role.
Upwards of 50 pounds of muscle in the years that followed further transformed the now terrifyingly broad-shouldered power forward. He had become a perennial All-Star, woefully underrated by the national media but doing everything possible on the court to make sure they couldn’t help but notice. Hook-shots and turnaround jumpers and a variety of other moves joined the patented face-up jumper in his repertoire. And that jumper migrated closer and closer to the three-point line. This past season, his fourth as the guy, he took another step forward–or, in literal terms, back–and began tormenting defenses from three-point range. During the 2013-2014 season, he took 15 three-pointers; this past season, he took 105, making 37, good for a respectable 35 percent. Combine that new development with his bulk, continued emphasis on scoring inside and his improved rebounding skills that equate to an average of 23 points and 10 rebounds per game and you get the player fans adore–the player they are oh so scared of losing.
Aldridge, 29 and in the prime of his career, is highly sought after, which is to surely be expected, but it is specifically which teams that are interested that increase fans stress levels. A Texas native, Aldridge is reportedly receiving interest from the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs. Whispers throughout the media indicate that Spur and future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan will play the role of recruiter once free-agency begins on July 1st. Given the legacy he has in San Antonio and considering their annual presence as a championship contender, Aldridge would be a fool not to at least listen.
That being said, Aldridge could leave a legacy of his own in Portland. He could go to San Antonio, be Duncan’s heir and attempt to fill his shoes–an impossible task–or he could strive to accomplish at least some of what Duncan has whilst remaining in Portland. The Blazers can offer him the most money of any team, but surely that can’t be all that would keep Aldridge in red and black. He has built something special here, something that isn’t finished.
And yet, basketball is a business. A long history with a team can be just that–history. If he wants a new challenge, he will leave. That’s sports, which can be so cruel. Portland has done a lot to acquiesce his requests and surround him with a suitable supporting cast, yet given that six other Blazers will enter free-agency as well he might see Portland as a risk, not knowing who would be around him aside from Lillard, Nicolas Batum, Meyers Leonard and C.J. McCollum next season.
While it’s not hard not to see a sense of attachment to Portland on his end, his decision, which would either have a domino effect of triumph or misfortune, could come down to one question: can I win a championship here? The Aldridge-led Blazers didn’t make it past the first until last season, but General Manager Neil Olshey has done plenty to bring in players who fit together, and Portland might have been a championship contender this year had Wesley Matthews not blown out his Achilles. Does Aldridge see the 2014-2015 team this way, a what-could-have-been situation that has the power to actually take place in the years to come?
Portland has contingency plans in place if Aldridge leaves, as they surely do for their other free-agents. A franchise can’t put their eggs in one basket, but even though that is the case, Aldridge is undeniably the basket that keeps the eggs from depressingly cracking and separating on the pavement. While Matthews, similarly important to the team’s success, has expressed the desire to return to Portland, with mutual interest on their part, the situation with Aldridge might be different. The ball is in his court. As he so chillingly said, we’ll see–two tortuously noncommittal words that will eventually turn into something definite, and either way decide the future of a franchise in the process.
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