LMA on whether Portland is 1st option: "We'll see"

[DaGawd]

If he thought Portland was small and boring I don't think he's gonna love San Antonio...

Yeah he's from Texas but if he's looking for a larger city Houston and Dallas are the places he should aim for, and I can't see Houston really being a realistic option given their cap situation or Dallas because they're kinda in flux

This article sounds like a guy looking for a big market..And he'd be wise to go East if he's trying to avoid he gauntlet out West

That was two years ago and is slightly irrelevant in my opinion. That said, the reason he would go to San Antonio or other Texas teams is the fact that they have no state income tax. He is saving a boatload of money if he goes down to Texas. That paired with the fact that San Antonio is a well known dynasty, I definitely could see him going down there.

It's not irrelevant in the sense that he's been wanting to get out of Portland for a minute it seems. And like I said if it's because of the limited lifestyle in Portland then it leads me to believe he's looking for a bigger market.

[DaGawd]

From 2 years ago..

LaMarcus Aldridge has wanted out of Portland since the last week of the Trail Blazers' season and did not re-sign sponsorship deals in Portland this past year, including agreements with Cadillac, Chevy, and Providence Hospital while asking to get out of a lease on his Pearl District condo.

Aldridge tried to put a clause into his lease that he will not have to pay penalties if he was traded.

“This is why I hate being in Portland,’’ Aldridge said during the last week of the season. “You can’t do anything.’’

According to the report, Aldridge would not only welcome a trade from the Blazers, but he hopes for one, believing the city is too boring and small.

Neil Olshey said he sympathized with the constant change Aldridge has gone through with the Blazers, but the GM was adamant he would not be shopping the All-Star forward.

“Well, I’ll tell you this: I’m not going to be making any phone calls to move him,’’ Olshey said. “But if the phone rings and it makes the team better ...

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... -Too-Small

If he thought Portland was small and boring I don't think he's gonna love San Antonio...

Yeah he's from Texas but if he's looking for a larger city Houston and Dallas are the places he should aim for, and I can't see Houston really being a realistic option given their cap situation or Dallas because they're kinda in flux

This article sounds like a guy looking for a big market..And he'd be wise to go East if he's trying to avoid he gauntlet out West

That quote about Portland being to small and boring is misleading. I can not find the follow up that was done but he was asked about that and he was referring mostly to the local media reporting on everything he did. Since he is a private, stay at home kind of guy I don't see wanting to move to a large market. If he does leave I highly doubt it is because Portland is small and he wants to be in a large market. He will leave for his family.

Ah ok. We shall see what he does I suppose

[asdfgh]

I could see him signing with Dallas if they have enough capspace.

[Biased_Fan6425]

LA to LA. Do it Mitch!

[doozyj]

LA to LA. Do it Mitch!

It will definitely be an option.

Clarkson
Randle
Aldridge
Top 5 pick
Houstons 1st

Future would look bright!

[Revived]

I could see him signing with Dallas if they have enough capspace.

This is what I see as well.

Isn't Chandler expiring after this season or is it next season?

Dirk-LMA front court would be dynamite offensively.

[PDXKnight]

I could see him signing with Dallas if they have enough capspace.

This is what I see as well.

Isn't Chandler expiring after this season or is it next season?

Dirk-LMA front court would be dynamite offensively.

La has never wanted to play center. The Blazers brought in robin Lopez specifically because la wasnt wanting to play center. I highly doubt la would go to Dallas to play center

[PDXKnight]

It amazes me how much people are trying to interpret what la wants to do when all hes really said (more or less) is that he is gonna weigh his options. The firsthand "sources" have been unnamed so far and If this "information" is coming from la's camp it could just be his agent posturing to create as many opportunities for la as he can. The information has been very limited thus far and considering that none of the original sources have been named the information could be misquoted, fabricated, or outright made up

[Effigy]

I still don't believe he's leaving. Portland can offer him that fifth year. He'll get something like $30 million for that year. No other team can offer him that, and he probably shouldn't assume he'll get that kind of money on a new contract when he's 35-6. But I guess we'll see.

[Hindenburg]

LA to San Antonio makes the most sense.

- He's from Texas
- He enters a real winning situation
- He learns from multiple GOATs
- He plays alongside future star Khawi Leonard.

I agree with all of that

but how much money does he give up in that scenario? Doubt Spurs give him max

[RoyalWun]

If he ends up leaving, this would be one of the quickest destructions of a title contender. It pretty much all started with the injury to Matthews.

[Westbreezy]

I still don't believe he's leaving. Portland can offer him that fifth year. He'll get something like $30 million for that year. No other team can offer him that, and he probably shouldn't assume he'll get that kind of money on a new contract when he's 35-6. But I guess we'll see.

Unless he wants to take advantage of the exploding cap... Maybe he wants to take a 2 year deal and then sign a longer term contract when each teams salary cap exceeds $100 million

[JellosJigglin]

LA to LA. Do it Mitch!

It will definitely be an option.

Clarkson
Randle
Aldridge
Top 5 pick
Houstons 1st

Future would look bright!

Isn't Aldridge turning 30 soon? The Lakers are rebuilding, why would he join them at the end of his peak years? I don't see it.

[JasonStern]

If LMA wanted to go to Houston and the Rockets wanted him I am confident that they could open up the cap space. If they could find a taker for Ariza they could get the space fairly easily.

and then move Josh Smith to small forward, because that experiment has worked so well in the past!

LA to LA. Do it Mitch!

It will definitely be an option.

Clarkson
Randle
Aldridge
Top 5 pick
Houstons 1st

Future would look bright!

how is that future brighter than Lillard/Batum/Matthews/Lopez/Afflalo/Kaman/McCollum/Leonard, especially factoring in the smaller contract he would have to accept and how much older Aldridge is than that core?

[gmoney411]

If LMA wanted to go to Houston and the Rockets wanted him I am confident that they could open up the cap space. If they could find a taker for Ariza they could get the space fairly easily.

and then move Josh Smith to small forward, because that experiment has worked so well in the past!

No money for Smith in that scenario. Brewer would move to the starting lineup.

[B_BallReasons]

LA to San Antonio makes the most sense.

- He's from Texas
- He enters a real winning situation
- He learns from multiple GOATs
- He plays alongside future star Khawi Leonard.

I agree with all of that

but how much money does he give up in that scenario? Doubt Spurs give him max

Probablty a max deal under the current CBA, which will not be as bad since the salary cap will go up by a large amount. It will look like a bargain by then.

[monopoman]

LA to LA. Do it Mitch!

It will definitely be an option.

Clarkson
Randle
Aldridge
Top 5 pick
Houstons 1st

Future would look bright!

Yeah, if he's willing to suck for 3 years the future looks decent. Pretending that team is top 8 in the west material next year though is a joke dude.

I actually think Aldridge makes that team a worst case scenario treadmill team winning 40-45 games a season. Good enough to win too many games to actually get any reasonable picks. In my mind it is clearly a step down from the roster the Blazers have now, even if Matthews takes a while to get back to his former glory.

[E-Balla]

From 2 years ago..

LaMarcus Aldridge has wanted out of Portland since the last week of the Trail Blazers' season and did not re-sign sponsorship deals in Portland this past year, including agreements with Cadillac, Chevy, and Providence Hospital while asking to get out of a lease on his Pearl District condo.

Aldridge tried to put a clause into his lease that he will not have to pay penalties if he was traded.

“This is why I hate being in Portland,’’ Aldridge said during the last week of the season. “You can’t do anything.’’

According to the report, Aldridge would not only welcome a trade from the Blazers, but he hopes for one, believing the city is too boring and small.

Neil Olshey said he sympathized with the constant change Aldridge has gone through with the Blazers, but the GM was adamant he would not be shopping the All-Star forward.

“Well, I’ll tell you this: I’m not going to be making any phone calls to move him,’’ Olshey said. “But if the phone rings and it makes the team better ...

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... -Too-Small

If he thought Portland was small and boring I don't think he's gonna love San Antonio...

Yeah he's from Texas but if he's looking for a larger city Houston and Dallas are the places he should aim for, and I can't see Houston really being a realistic option given their cap situation or Dallas because they're kinda in flux

This article sounds like a guy looking for a big market..And he'd be wise to go East if he's trying to avoid he gauntlet out West

That quote about Portland being to small and boring is misleading. I can not find the follow up that was done but he was asked about that and he was referring mostly to the local media reporting on everything he did. Since he is a private, stay at home kind of guy I don't see wanting to move to a large market. If he does leave I highly doubt it is because Portland is small and he wants to be in a large market. He will leave for his family.

Yeah LaMarcus really isn't a party type of dude but that doesn't mean he wouldn't prefer the city life.

[monopoman]

From 2 years ago..

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... -Too-Small

If he thought Portland was small and boring I don't think he's gonna love San Antonio...

Yeah he's from Texas but if he's looking for a larger city Houston and Dallas are the places he should aim for, and I can't see Houston really being a realistic option given their cap situation or Dallas because they're kinda in flux

This article sounds like a guy looking for a big market..And he'd be wise to go East if he's trying to avoid he gauntlet out West

That quote about Portland being to small and boring is misleading. I can not find the follow up that was done but he was asked about that and he was referring mostly to the local media reporting on everything he did. Since he is a private, stay at home kind of guy I don't see wanting to move to a large market. If he does leave I highly doubt it is because Portland is small and he wants to be in a large market. He will leave for his family.

Yeah LaMarcus really isn't a party type of dude but that doesn't mean he wouldn't prefer the city life.

I find it funny that every fan of a larger market team keeps trying to tell us that he loves the big markets. When he has made no indication in the past about really wishing he was living in NY or LA.

[E-Balla]

That quote about Portland being to small and boring is misleading. I can not find the follow up that was done but he was asked about that and he was referring mostly to the local media reporting on everything he did. Since he is a private, stay at home kind of guy I don't see wanting to move to a large market. If he does leave I highly doubt it is because Portland is small and he wants to be in a large market. He will leave for his family.

Yeah LaMarcus really isn't a party type of dude but that doesn't mean he wouldn't prefer the city life.

I find it funny that every fan of a larger market team keeps trying to tell us that he loves the big markets. When he has made no indication in the past about really wishing he was living in NY or LA.

Good thing I was talking about Dallas and Houston - two places we all know he wants to go to...