So things in Portland aren’t going too well. They had hopes of a deep Playoff run this year, but injuries didn’t help out at all, losing Wesley Matthews, Arron Afflalo, and essentially an inconsistent bench. The shoulder of the load is on Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge, who have been worn out, as they lead the league in MPG.
Even Trail Blazers players are saying Aldridge is probably leaving. A Trail Blazers player said he has a 50-50 chance at staying, AT BEST.
So now we got to look at different teams Aldridge could go to. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, New York, Los Angeles are guaranteed buyers. But according to Zach Lowe of Grantland:
The Spurs accepted that risk because waiting to bump up Leonard’s salary gives them the chance to dangle max cap space in front of Marc Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge this summer. Neither is a good bet to leave his current team, but sources around the league have been saying for weeks that the Spurs might get a hearing with Aldridge — and that was before the Oregonian reported that at least one Blazers player thinks there is only a 50-50 chance that Aldridge stays in Portland.
(And no, I wouldn’t take that as gospel, either. Aldridge said before the season that he wants to be the greatest Blazer ever.)
So the San Antonio Spurs are looking to add Marc Gasol, and LaMarcus Aldridge, but they definitely know they want one of them, if not both. If Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli leave, they can definitely grab LaMarcus Aldridge or Marc Gasol, because both situations aren’t looking to good.
