LaMarcus Aldridge

[texasholdem]

Who would have thought Portland would trade Clyde Drexler? He was averaging 22 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 5.1 apg with Portland in the first half of 1994-95 season so he was still a star player.

[MaxRider]

Portland isn't going to trade aldridge. So let's stop speculating.

depend for who

[Alex I Be]

I'd like a lineup of PG-Calderon, SG-Harden, SF-Parsons, PF-LA, C-D12.....bench-Beverly, Kyle Korver, Delfino, Landry, Greg Oden.....GET ER DONE MOREY!!!

[moofs]

Now THERE is your pipe dreamer!

Can't really disagree.
Leave Jones and Smith on there.

Hell as long as we're at it, throw LeBron in, too.

[MaxRider]

Would the Rockets be willing to include the Raptors pick?

We gave it to OKC for Harden

Got it. NBA Draft Net is still showing it under the Rockets.

really? i see OKC has the 12th pick

[2Harden2Handle]

My guess: Porland will ask for more than any team is willing to give, and Aldridge ends up staying in a Blazers uniform at least until 2014.

[zapatasblood]

so the quote about him hating being in Portland is not a real quote?

Answered by spolgar. Portland is a one horse town and who it was that wrote it exaggerated it

[texasholdem]

so the quote about him hating being in Portland is not a real quote?

Answered by spolgar. Portland is a one horse town and who it was that wrote it exaggerated it

I don't see how you can exaggerate a direct quote like that. Either he said it or he didn't.

[moofs]

I don't see how you can exaggerate a direct quote like that. Either he said it or he didn't.

1. Get the person flustered to where they say something they don't necessarily mean.
2. Take the quote out of context.
"Yeah, I could say 'Portland is a real turd of a town', but I think more highly of it than that"
"He said, 'Portland is a real turd of a town!' "
3. Take a past quote and pass it off as recent.

Etc.

[spolgar]

I don't see how you can exaggerate a direct quote like that. Either he said it or he didn't.

Well the quote in context is very much revealing:

Since Portland really only has one sports team and the media enjoys generating buzz to garner readership, said sports team gets a lot of attention, especially if said buzz takes listtle investment on the part of the publication, money or time or otherwise, to report. The reporter was asking him very personal questions pertaining to financial matters, while clearly having done his homework, it comes off as extremely creepy.

Do take into account also that he has asked all of these questions previously, then came back, the same day and tried to needle him into saying something again about his level of satisfaction with the TrailBlazers. Alridge didn't say that he hated the team, he said '"“This is why I hate being in Portland,’’ he told me. “You can’t do anything.’’", AFTER being told that the reporter had insights on modifications he's trying to push in an apartment that he doesn't even live in. See, that's just extremely fscked up.

If someone asked me why I wasn't continuing to lease a particular place or continue business dealings with established portland businesses, I would just be annoyed. If said someone got _details_ of what I am trying to accomplish in a business deal, I would be _extremely_ close to snapping. He had every right to sound frustrated.

NBA teams use to eat and dine with their beat reporters. They were part of the same entertainment unit. Now the media is the greater enemy than the opposing team one is playing tonight. And right here we see why. It's obvious to me that this reporter is willing to piss off the town's teams only sports team's star player and further motivate him to move, just to get a quote.

[Wizenheimer]

as a Blazer fan, I'll add a little perspective. Of course, it may be my own bias slanting that perspective

the media guy who was badgering Aldridge, Jason Quick, use to be the Blazer beat reporter but was then re-assigned to be a BB columnist. From things said by players, vague as they are, it's somewhat apparent that Quick is despised by a lot of Blazer players, primarily because he always approaches them with his own agenda

in this case, he was badgering Aldridge about the hidden meaning behind Aldridge not renewing some of his sponsorship deals. This coming a couple of hours after he had pressed Aldridge hard on the same subject

Aldridge, pissed off about having to repeat the same interview two hours later, this time shortly after a tough loss said "“This is why I hate being in Portland, You can’t do anything.’’

he was obviously talking about the media microscope of a small market with only one professional sports team. That of course, ends up on wiretap as "Aldridge Hates Portland"

context counts, no?
-----------------------------------------------------------------

that isn't to say that things are fine for Aldridge and Portland. There may be enough smoke to conclude there's fire. He just completed his 7th season and the Blazers have only been in the playoffs 3 times in his tenure. And it is a small market with that fishbowl effect

but, the primary reason to go after Asik, from Portland's perspective, would have been to pair him with Aldridge

I'm not sure how much interest Portland would have in trading Aldridge for Asik. A lot more would have to come Portland's direction (including some cap-relief). But certainly, a Harden-Howard-Aldridge combo would vault Houston into strong contender status.

[Agenda42]

To clarify Aldridge's quote, here's some backstory for you:

So I cornered the Trail Blazers star outside the locker room, before the game, and asked how he felt about Portland.

“What do you mean, feel?’’ Aldridge asked warily.

...

We went back and forth. I told him it had been relayed to me that he didn’t re-up with any of his Portland sponsorships and deals, agreements that in the past included Cadillac, Chevy, and Providence Hospital. And that it had been relayed to me that he was asking to get out of a lease on his Pearl District condo.

...

After the game, I approached Aldridge again, this time in the locker room. I asked more questions about his past sponsorships and why he suddenly this year decided not to renew any of them. And since our pregame talk, I had received more information, again through a third party: He was trying to put a clause into his lease that if he was traded, he wouldn’t have to pay penalties for breaking the lease early.

Aldridge was irritated.

“This is why I hate being in Portland,’’ he told me. “You can’t do anything.’’

http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index ... lamar.html

Aldridge isn't complaining about the city of Portland or even the team. He's complaining that the local media is checking up on his private life and trying to make everything Aldridge does into a story.

I have to say, this article is a pretty despicable way to get page views.

[texasholdem]

thanks for the clarification. lock this thread please.

[Mr. E]

I suspected that was the case. Jerk reporter.