The Portland Trailblazers have had trouble over the years, like any small market team, to retain and keep players. They traded for Lamarcus Aldridge about 10 years ago, and now comes a time, where he becomes a free agent this summer. Many people have suggested that the Texas native might think of going back home to the Spurs or Mavericks or even the Rockets if things don’t work out with the Trailblazers.
Aldridge and his camp have expressed how much they want to stay in Portland, but realistically will they?
Some people say no, probably not.
According to Ramona Shelburne on ESPN LA:
“I think LaMarcus Aldridge is actually a lot more in play than people think.
How can you really improve that group up in Portland? I think Neil has done a great job up there, but it’s Portland. He’s never quite fit in, and they’ve made it really clear that Damian Lillard is the face of their franchise.”
Damian Lillard is the face of this franchise, and it’s not a bad thing. A duo of Lillard and Aldridge is lethal, they need to just add a couple other solid (injury free) players onto their team to make them successful, and change up that ‘thing’ they call a bench.
If Aldridge does stay in Portland, they can give him the most money, which is why he opted out of his extension anyways. If he leaves, the most he could get is about 70% of what Portland could pay him.
According to Dan Feldman of Probasketball Talk, heres how Aldridge’s pay would look in each scenario:
-If he stays and re-sign with Portland in the summer = Red
-If he signs somewhere else in the summer =Black
– Signing a one year deal (wait for TV deal money) and re-sign with Portland= Brown
– Signing a one year deal (wait for TV deal money) and sign elsewhere= gray
So what do you think? Should Aldridge look elsewhere for an NBA ring, or should he stay with the team that traded for him 9 years ago.
