The Portland Trail Blazers season is barely a week old and attention is already turning towards the most important free agency period this franchise has seen in years. Robin Lopez could be headed towards a big payday. Wesley Matthews was about to make 10 million per day for any team he desired before his injury. Even Aaron Afflalo and Chris Kaman might not be in a Blazers uniform next year. However, the biggest question is what will happen to beloved franchise player LaMarcus Aldridge, who has sparked rumors of jumping ship for Texas or elsewhere this summer.
These rumors overshadowed the disastrous first round series with a very good Memphis team. I saw many shameful clickbait articles asking whether these are the last games for Aldridge in black and red or how Aldridge would fit in with Gregg Popovich and Kawhi Leonard. Spurs fans are curious, while Blazers fans like myself can’t drink enough beer to push away our fear.
Where would he go? Most analysts have short listed the three Texas teams, although I can’t imagine Aldridge going to a Houston team that treats midrange jumpers like Dengue Fever. San Antonio and Dallas are attractive destinations because of top tier coaches, active front offices, and the chance to win now. But does Aldridge want to walk in the footsteps of Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki for the rest of his career? Duncan and Nowitzki have already led their franchises to championships. Aldridge will be hard pressed to do the same in the highly competitive West. A Dallas team built around Aldridge, Monta Ellis, and Tyson Chandler is not a favorite in the West. In fact, is this team any better than the (healthy) squad that Portland rostered back in October? San Antonio, on the other hand, would be a formidable squad with a team built around Aldridge, Leonard, and the last breaths of Tony Parker.
The good news is that everything so far is speculative, attention seeking nonsense. Jason Quick and Amy Schwartz are not reliable sources, let alone prophets. The bad news is that the Blazers looked so bad during the Memphis Grizzlies series that Aldridge would be a fool not to entertain the possibility of a scenery change. His costar, Damian Lillard (although it’s hard to call him anything close to a star right now), even said in more eloquent words that you have to be selfish when you’re chasing a championship and a legacy. If Aldridge thinks he has a better chance down in Texas, it’s hard to blame him for leaving.
Last year after Aldridge turned down a contract extension, I felt that he and the Blazers had become engaged. Aldridge put on his commitment ring and the Blazers organization kept swooning for his calm demeanor, quiet leadership, and smooth midrange jumper. His max contract this summer is his professional marriage and all of a sudden his fiancé doesn’t look so good with Lillard shooting like Josh Smith, Matthews sitting in a wheel chair, and the Blazers defense weaker than the Polish resistance of World War II. Aldridge deserves a beautiful bride and, for the first time, I fear that the Blazers are developing wrinkles.
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