Edit* Being reported that Dirk is willing to spend next season on the bench & come off as a 6th Man in order to help attract a FA big man who will have a starting spot. The rumor mill (& this is a giant IF) has it going that Dirk may doing this as an invitation to
@a6m5's L. Aldridge as he is a Dallas native & actually has a similar play style to Dirk (his turn around fadeaway is almost an exact copy & just as unstoppable and accurate as Dirk's).
Personally, I'm not expecting much because I always assumed LMA had said he wanted to spend his career in Portland. But, according to the media, he hasn't been as content with the team as he was at the start of the season, so there's a lot of articles going out that he may have played his last Blazers game as San Antonio, Dallas, & New York (
) look to make offers. All I can think of is how much damn money does San Antonio have unless Duncan/Manu retire.
I LOVE LaMarcus Aldridge. Yes, at the beginning of the season, he did decline a extension pointing out his plan to sign a longer max deal at the end of the 2015. He also noted that his goal was to then become the best player in Blazers franchise history. I hope this still is the case.
I tend to be a cynic though, and everything you said about L-Train declining to reaffirm his commitment to Portland is true. I kinda got the bad feeling when Wesley Matthews went down. I've been telling people that the time to get LaMarcus help was the last off season. Way I figured, we were good enough to flirt with getting out of the first & second round again, but nowhere near the level of contending. Instead of adding another all-star caliber scorer/defender, not to take anything away from these two, but we ended up with Kaman & Steve Blake. Decent bench, but no more.
When the rumor about the Spurs hoping to court LaMarcus started, local media tried to get him to acknowledge that he still planned on resigning with Portland, and he did state that it was undecided.
I do believe that it is possible that Neil Olshey(GM) could convince Aldridge to stay. However, it is easier for me to believe that he will go home to Dallas, or maybe join a franchise that actually know what it's doing like the Spurs. 100% agree with the "(
)" on the New York situation.
I do think Olshey is a decent GM, but again, I have no faith in Portland front office, or any team that's content & willing to settle putting together a playoff team, but one that will not get anywhere. You look at the Clippers, Warriors, etc., but Clippers especially, they may be underachievers, but at least their front office is trying. I like LaMarcus too much to see him settle for a loser. If he stays, I hope it's because Olshey gave him his word that he is working to put together a contender, and not because we can give him a extra year, or more money due to Bird rights or anything else.
I hope you liked this novel. Sorry. Big L-Train fan.
