Aldridge will be a free agent in July. A lot of buzz lately about him being ready to leave the Blazers for a title shot. Many speculate heading out East may be the easiest path for him to a championship shot (due to the weakness out East and also the possibility of replacing Kevin Love on the Cavs). Out west it seems the 2 teams that would be the best fit for him would be: The Spurs The Rockets So should the Rockets go after Lamarcus? Would love to hear opinions
If you had asked this question after the Portland series last year, especially the first two games, the responses would have been predictably near unanimous. Now, not so sure. I think he will end up in Dallas, unfortunately. They will have to do another "Rondo Rearrangement" to make room.
How about they just focus on the Clippers/Spurs. The Rockets will have a month to work on their roster after the playoffs. I think you make a proposal to Portland for a S&T of course, but your chances are so incredibly unlikely that I doubt it happens regardless. You don't want ANYTHING to leak right now that the Rockets are already focusing on off-season trades for players playing right now. Morey needs to keep the phones silent just in case something leaks. It would be HORRIBLE PR right now, and could break the locker room. Come back to this after the season. You know for a fact that Morey and Co. have plans in place to go for everything they can to make the team better. LMA obviously fits the bill for a perfect 4 next to Dwight. We will see what happens after the season is over.
No kidding. We're in the 2nd round with a pretty decent shot at advancing to the WCF and who knows what'll happen after that(especially if Memphis pulls off the upset in their series)? Why not see how far we can go with this group before talking about dumping players in pursuit of another star?
Aldridge has already said that his main priority in making his choice will be winning. To do that, he's going to go where the best players are: Chandler Parsons, coming off microfracture surgery, and a 37-year-old who plays Aldridge's same position? Aldridge would have a superior supporting cast around him in Portland and be able to make significantly more money. If he leaves, it's not going to be for a lesser team and less money.
Exactly. This whole narrative that Dallas is a front-runner is coming from who exactly?? Yes there is the notion that LaMarcus will test free agency, and its obvious that Cuban is going to go after X Big Name superstar year after year. However I have yet to see where this Dallas destination thing is coming from. What does LaMarcus think about playing the 5 spot (pretty much have to renounce Chandler to get free agent dollars) next to Dirk, and Parsons who will be coming off of major knee surgery? LaMarcus is from Texas... oh geez... this narrative again. Really worked with Deron Williams and Chris Bosh. Seriously...... Anyways, here's where I've seen this narrative coming from- http://uproxx.com/dimemag/2015/04/dirk-nowitzki-says-yes-to-bench-free-agent-lamarcus-aldridge/ ^ From Dirk Nowitzki http://sportdfw.com/2015/04/30/many-stars-interested-in-the-dallas-mavericks-this-summer/ ^ Sports DFW (AKA Dallas Fort Worth) Check this blip out- So he's linked to the Mavs just because he went to high school in the Dallas area..... ok. I guess Jimmy Butler is "linked" to the Rockets since he grew up in the Houston area. http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/da...dridge-in-a-mavericks-uniform-next-season.ece ^ Dallas News http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2015/4...-have-a-shot-at-lamarcus-aldridge-this-summer ^ Mavs Moneyball..... come on now
It is still entirely too early for there to be any real information about free agency. Everything at this point is entirely speculation. We don't even know if LMA is going to consider leaving Portland or not. We just think that maybe, possibly, he sort of might think about it because they had a rough end to their season and playoff series. And since we have nothing to go on at all at this point, "he grew up in Dallas" is as good of a narrative as any other speculation we might come together with. Personally, I hope Cuban does chase Aldridge. I hope we lets a couple of key players from his team go this year (after all, he values chemistry so much) in order to create max room to chase a free agent like LMA, only to have LMA go somewhere. Preferrably Houston, but anywhere else. Then, after that, Dallas ends up signing several players to one year deals and vet minimum contracts. Because that trend is becoming pretty funny to watch.
It would piss me off so bad if he went to the spurs and they just keep on trucking along for 7-10 more years.... He'd be really dumb to go to the Mavs unless Deandre Jordan goes with him.
Blazer brass says its 50/50 that he stays, which is code for "he's gone" I don't see Dallas getting him, the Spurs are the ones that will get him
I can't think of a better fit for him than the Blazers. They have a young core, good gm, and can offer him the most. The mavs are going to make a push, bi their moves as of late have been a disaster. The bucks are young but have no one the compares to Lillard. We have very little money available to pay him. Just seems dumb for him to even consider alternatives
It's not entirely speculation. Players on the team think he's gone. Others say they think it's 50-50, at best. Those are folks that know him and talk to him every day. Aldridge himself told Chris Broussard that his top priority will be winning. There's plenty of substance to tell us that A) Aldridge is open to leaving and B) if he does, title contention is his goal.
How do the Blazers get to the next level? They were humiliated in the 2nd round a year ago and the 1st round this year. They've never even had home-court in a single playoff series under Aldridge (meaning they were No. 5 or lower in the West each year). They have no cap flexibility this summer. How do they get from a mid-tier squad to a true contender? Especially in a loaded West and in a small market, which makes it tougher to lure free agents. It's not impossible, but it's a tough assignment. To say it's "dumb to even consider alternatives" is just silly. P.S. The Rockets would be going after Aldridge by S&T, in which case they would be able to pay him.
He should either go to Houston or San Antonio. I think at the end of the day he stays in Portland. I think San Antonio is a slightly better fit for him than Houston is. Dallas is a joke. Dallas needs more work than Portland does to get to the next level. For Portland, Lillard needs to work on defense, and the Blazers need a 3rd scorer/2-way player. That is far less work than the **** show Dallas has when they lose Monta and others this summer.
What would we have to trade to Portland? One of D-Mo or Jones for sure. But then after that? What else do we have that they would want? I guess if we also did a S&T for Brewer? Or maybe a S&T for Josh Smith? Or maybe a S&T for Beverley? Ariza is almost the same player as Batum. I'm not sure. I'm having a hard time imagining what possibilities exist to make that happen
Picks, and filler. Portland would love to get something instead of nothing. You send over TJones/DMo, picks, and filler, and that isn't a bad take for losing LA. Hell, the Lakers got less than that for Dwight.
