Aldridge steps up as Leonard stands down
Midway through the third quarter of a game that had been perilously close to getting out of hand Monday, Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge took steps to ensure that it wouldn’t.
Having missed a shot near the rim, Aldridge summoned the energy to fight through two Golden State players for the rebound, put the ball back in the basket and draw a foul.
The three-point play would give the Spurs a short-lived one-point lead in a game they would lose by 15. It was the textbook definition of “valiant in defeat.”
“LaMarcus has been a monster all year long,” head coach Gregg Popovich said after Aldridge’s 34-point, 12-rebound salvo in the Spurs’ 116-101 Game 2 loss. “He just plays through everything. I can’t imagine being more proud of a player as far as playing through adversity and being there for his teammates night after night after night.”
Against the backdrop of a Western Conference firstround series the Spurs have been forced to play without the services of their other All-Star, it was impossible not to read Popovich’s praise of Aldridge with a bit of underlying subtext.
While Aldridge was in Oakland this week, leading the Spurs into an uphill battle against the defending NBA champions, Kawhi Leonard was in New York rehabbing a mysterious quadriceps injury that has kept him out and often away from the team since midJanuary.
The Leonard situation has been a running subplot of the Spurs’ postseason. His teammates have proceeded as if he will not be around.
In Game 2, Aldridge did his best to give a lift to a team that desperately needed it.
He converted 11 of 24 fieldgoal attempts and all 12 of his free-throw triess. The way Aldridge sees it, such a performance comes with a job description as the Spurs’ highestpaid player.
“I wouldn’t say it’s tough to be the main option,” said Aldridge, a six-time All-Star. “That’s who I’ve been my whole career.”
In July 2015, the Spurs inked Aldridge to an $84 million freeagent deal that at the time was the largest single contract the club had offered.
There was a time when Leonard seemed on pace to dwarf those numbers this summer.
On July 1, the two-time AllStar and NBA Defensive Player of the Year becomes eligible to receive a five-year extension worth $219 million.
Leonard’s season-long injury, combined with the disconnect stemming from his New York rehab, has made the so-called “supermax extension” anything but a slam dunk for either party.
Before committing to the largest contract in team history, the Spurs will want assurances that Leonard is healthy and committed to them. Even if he is offered the extension, there is no guarantee Leonard will accept it.
If he does not, the Spurs will have little choice but to explore trade options for a player Popovich once dubbed “the future face of the franchise.”
If there is a reason for optimism that the rift can be repaired, it can be found in Aldridge.
At this time last year, he was a disgruntled All-Star who wanted to be traded. A series of offseason sit-downs with Popovich, in which the two discussed Aldridge’s role and eased his concerns, resulted in a three-year, $72 million extension for the big man.
Aldridge responded with the best season of his three-year Spurs tenure, and one of the best of his professional life.
He averaged 23.2 points and 8.5 rebounds, with a playerefficiency rating that ranked as the highest of his 12-season career.
“He’s been pushing us for 84 games now,” Ginobili said. “It’s remarkable the way he competed and the way he carried us. It’s great to have a teammate like that.”
Perhaps at this time next year, the Spurs will be able to say the same about Leonard again.
That is the $219 million question for an offseason that could be coming far too soon.