[Jason Quick] Trail Blazers' list of concerns after Game 1 should include the future of LaMarcus Ald

Another top FA for Cuban to strike out on

 

Exactly, if he wants to win (which is the big reason he leaves Portland), Dallas is farther from contending for a ring than Portland is. He leaves behind money, a better chance at winning, and the team that drafted him to be close to home? He's playing with a top 10 point guard and a top 10 small forward. I think SAS has the best shot at him, and that maybe the Rockets could somehow swing a deal. If only our core guys would restructure to fit him in... the pick n roll/pop potential!

 

Who(if anyone) does San Antonio have to let go in order to fit Aldridge under the cap? Obviously they'll have to match any deal Kawhi gets this summer, and I can't imagine him not getting a max offer. But aren't Duncan, Manu, and Green all free agents? Green is only making 4 mil this year. He's gonna get a pay raise from someone. Duncan already took a paycut to 10 mil, so I don't know how much lower he'd be willing to go. Manu's at 7 mil. Do they let him walk? Would that even matter if Green and Kawhi got huge bumps in salary?

 

Spot On. He's only coming to Texas if it's us or the Spurs. He can't walk away from that money and lillard unless he's going to a team with a better chance to win and a good young star to play with.

Considering we would probably have to dumb our role players to get it done, SA has to be the favorite. (As much as it pains me to say)

 

Welcome to the 4th Annual "Mavs/Cuban laughably overestimate their own appeal to free agents" season.

This week's episode "A Jilting from Seagoville"

More importantly, will Cuban panic and overpay for a Plan B a la Parsons

 

Is "mike fisher" legit or no?

 

I am not sure if Green gets paid a ton, and if he does I don't think the Spurs will mind letting him walk. He's good, but replaceable. Especially if you're going for Aldridge, who could be good throughout his next max deal. He's a skilled big which will prolong his career beyond most bigs'. And I think Pop will transition him into a high-post role.

I could see Ginobili taking a paycut, I know there was a little drama last time he was an FA, but the Spurs paid him what he deserved. If he wants to prolong his career, he'll take less. I am probably wrong on this, but couldn't the Spurs sign Aldridge and resign Kawhi to a huge deal? They have Kawhi's bird rights, no? I don't think they would mind operating over the cap for a starting 5 of:

Parker
Anyone
Kawhi
Aldridge
Duncan

With Splitter, Diaw, Patty Mills, Corey Joseph all still signed on. That's a scary team if healthy (big if).

After looking it up, Kawhi has a QO for next year. I think the Spurs would just pick that up and sign Manu and TD to smaller deals. Then they can definitely match the mega deal Kawhi will get and just operate over the cap. Duncan and Manu are in the twilight of their careers, I don't think money is that big a deal given the culture of that franchise. Aldridge is such a perfect fit for the Spurs, both in playing style and personality (not a diva superstar). If they pull this off they'll have 3 decades of pure fortune with drafts (Robinson, tanking to get Duncan) and free agents. Credit to RC Buford and Pop.

 

Doesnt matter

Nothin really round breaking in what said anyway

 

Name a guy on the level of Ariza or Brewer with those kind of instincts and physical attributes with their price tags? You can't and you won't. Brewer is better than some combo starting wings in this league being paid 3x as much. Better than a guy like Chandler Parsons even.. Think about it.

 

If Duncan and Manu are willing to take significant paycuts, if Duncan is willing to come off the bench(Aldridge ain't playing center), if the Spurs are willing to match Kawhi's inevitable max offer from some other team, and if they're willing to shell out max money for Aldridge, then I could see him signing there.

That's a lot of things that have to go right for that team. And what if they get knocked out in the first round by the Clippers? Will that give Aldridge any doubt about the Spurs still being a title contender? At some point, age is going to force Duncan and Manu to retire. And Parker is on the books for several more years and is clearly showing signs of wearing down.

I don't buy the Spurs as this great destination everyone makes them out to be. Not with so many question marks about who'll be back next year.

 

The Spurs have $41,394,473.50 tied up in commitments and cap holds to Parker, Splitter, Diaw, Mills, Leonard, and Kyle Anderson. Throw in another $10 million for Timmy (if he doesn't retire). Then throw in another 5 minimum salary cap holds of $525,093 each and they are at a cap figure of a little over $54 million.

If the cap comes in at $66.5 million that leaves them with around $12.5 million of cap space. Of course if they can trade away their first round pick (or Kyle Anderson or both) along with Splitter or Diaw (most likely Diaw) then they'd have the means to pay LaMarcus the max.

or

Timmy could decided to play for around $5 million for one year and that would probably be enough cap space to get LaMarcus to come over.

And so it folds nicely into a S&T scenario. As long as Timmy D is willing to play for a low salary next year, San Antonio can sign LaMarcus fairly easily. Which should be enough to convince the Blazers to sign-and-trade LaMarcus to the Spurs for a package of say....Diaw, Spurs first rounder, Anderson, and perhaps Baynes or Green or Ayres signed-and-traded to Portland.

 

This is the kind of Aldridge-to-Spurs stuff Blazers fans have been kicking around all season.

Another factor is Damian Lillard. He and LMA don't exactly have a strong relationship.

 

Not many people have a strong relationship with LMA. He is fickle, moody and isn't exactly personable with his teammates.

 

Wesley Matthews did. But sure enough, we all know LMA isn't the most outgoing guy.

 

Lol, that's a clown comment. Brewer better than Parsons, smh.

Parsons may be a dick, but he's still a very good player.

 

so Dmo>Aldridge, now brewer>parsons. whats next Beverly>curry? take off your homer glasses from time to time

 

If the rockets are going to win the second round this year, Aldridge may be the best choice for him. The rockets have good, and young players for a trade to the Blazers, and Aldridge age matches to Howard, the team can have a big three for a few more years.

 

I think Duncan and Manu would. I don't see why they wouldn't, to be honest. They've gotten their money and rings. Ginobili has 2 years left at best, Duncan maybe the same. They're gonna play less than 30 minutes a game for the rest of their careers, and have already taken paycuts. But, I am not too familiar with their situations. But I imagine it's resign with the Spurs or retire. I don't think either has any intention of leaving SA (but hey, money talks).

They could get knocked out in the first round, but Dallas and Portland are much more likely to get knocked out in the first round. Portland has lost to the Grizzlies 6 times in a row this season, Dallas looks completely outmatched. I think Duncan can move to Center much more easily than Dirk trying to come off of the bench. You're right about TP though. I think Poppovich just has that ability to coach up teams, so that might be a huge draw. Can't argue against his ability to win + being close to home.

But yeah, a lot of this just hinges on what Aldridge wants to do. The Spurs have leverage in that they can basically sign him outright (if what basketballholic said is all true), the Rockets do not have that luxury. Even if he wants to come here, the Blazers are going to have to play ball. I'm a huge fan of his game, and can see him meshing perfectly with our style of play. Hopefully that one guy that talked to him at Academy wasn't lying about Aldridge saying he would love to be a Rocket.

 

BILL SIMMONS Mailbag

 

Uhh the whole point was LMA wanted to return to .... Texas, which kind of eliminates all the teams.... NOT IN TEXAS.

Further the "better basketball decision" would be to leave Portland for Houston or San Antonio.