The Portland Trail Blazers are on the verge of losing star forward LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency, according to ESPN's Chris Broussard and Marc Stein. It was only last July that Aldridge pledged he would sign a five-year deal and wanted to become the best Blazer ever, so things have changed a little bit. He could reportedly soon join the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks or even the Cleveland Cavaliers in a potential sign-and-trade for Kevin Love. From ESPN:
LaMarcus Aldridge is not expected to re-sign with the Portland Trail Blazers, several people close to the All-Star forward told ESPN's Chris Broussard.
And Wednesday's trade of forward Nicolas Batum was an indication, league sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein, of Portland's growing belief that Aldridge is poised to leave in free agency.
"He's gone," a source close to Aldridge said. "There's a 99.9 percent chance that he's out of Portland."
The sources listed several reasons Aldridge is expected to leave the Blazers, for whom he has played since entering the league in 2006. They said he doesn't believe the Blazers can attract top free agents to improve the team, that he feels somewhat underappreciated by the organization and that he simply is looking for a new environment to live in.
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"He has tons of respect for coach [Gregg] Popovich," one source told Broussard. "And he thinks highly of their organization and front office."
Portland acquired Aldridge on draft night in 2006, and he's averaged 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game over his nine seasons there. He lived through the difficult times with the Blazers as Brandon Roy and Greg Oden's careers were derailed by injuries, and he emerged as a franchise player. It seemed like he might leave town a few years ago, but Damian Lillard's emergence changed for a while. It looks like Lillard was not enough.
The Spurs make a lot of sense for Aldridge as a first option, though they'll have to do some maneuvering with their salary-cap situation. Same with "Spurs East" in Atlanta. It's more than a little weird that the Lakers have reportedly become his second choice, but apparently they're in the running for everybody. The Knicks? The Cavs? Now we're getting crazy. Welcome to free agency.
Portland acquired project big man Noah Vonleh in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, and perhaps he will develop into a starting power forward in time. If the Blazers push for Love doesn't work out, though, losing Aldridge would obviously mean they'd take a huge step back next year.
