Aldridge leaves Blazers for Spurs
Center gets $80M for 4 years
LaMarcus Aldridge got the answers he needed from the San Antonio Spurs.
And the Spurs apparently got the answer they wanted.
Aldridge announced Saturday that he will sign with San Antonio and join Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard to form what would figure to be among the league’s most-formidable frontcourts.
“I’m happy to say I’m going home to Texas and will be a Spur!!” Aldridge, a Dallas native, posted to his Twitter account. “I’m excited to join the team and be close to my family and friends.”
The Spurs could not comment because of the league’s offseason moratorium. Aldridge’s representatives did not respond to requests for further comment.
Aldridge, who spent his first nine seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, will be eligible to sign his new deal Thursday.
Aldridge met with several teams, all of whom were offering what the Spurs did: $80 million for four years.
The Los Angeles Lakers tried to woo him to play alongside Kobe Bryant. The Mavericks tried to sell him on coming home. Houston and Phoenix — which cleared cap space in an effort to get Aldridge — made pitches as well, and Pat Riley flew to Los Angeles to try to talk Aldridge into leaving the loaded Western Conference, coming East and joining the Miami Heat.
Some of the pitches were more appealing than others to Aldridge. But how the Spurs responded to his questions, most recently in their second meeting in Los Angeles on Friday, obviously won the battle.
“So happy he’s going to be a Spur !!” San Antonio guard Tony Parker tweeted.
It ushers in a new era for Portland. Damian Lillard got a new $120 million deal in recent days to stay with the Blazers, but Wesley Matthews (Dallas), Nic Batum (Charlotte), Arron Afflalo (New York) and Robin Lopez (New York) are heading elsewhere.
Now Aldridge, the second-leading scorer in Portland history behind only Clyde Drexler, is gone as well.
Blazers general manager Neil Olshey made several moves in preparation for Aldridge’s departure. He sent Batum to Charlotte for guard Gerald Henderson and second-year power forward Noah Vonleh, added big man Mason Plumlee in a draft-day trade with Brooklyn and signed versatile power forward Ed Davis to a three-year, $20 million deal.
Aldridge averaged a career-high 23.4 points and also grabbed 10.2 rebounds per game while playing with an injured thumb last season for the Blazers. And last year he added a new dimension to his game — the 3-pointer, making 37 after making a total of 24 in his first eight seasons combined.
The Spurs offered him a chance to play in his home state, a chance to join the most successful franchise of the modern era and presumably the right to take the lead role from Duncan, who will return for a 19th season.
After winning the championship in 2014, the Spurs were eliminated in seven games by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs this year. With their famed trio of Duncan, Parker and Manu Ginobili aging, general manager R.C. Buford and coach Gregg Popovich have deftly set up the long-term health of the franchise this summer.
They started by signing Leonard, the reigning defensive player of the year, to a five-year contract worth around $90 million, then locked up Green, one of the league’s best shooting guards.