Bohls: What’s the NBA future for former Horn Aldridge?
Aldridge couldn’t save the Trail Blazers against the Spurs — and with free agency looming, the former Longhorn’s long-term future may not be in Portland.
LaMarcus Aldridge stopped to look at a visitor’s screen shot of him and his four fellow Portland starters, a still photo of an NBA team that had been on the move until the San Antonio Spurs put that to a stop late Wednesday night.
They were all propped up against the scorer’s table, their backs to the camera, their names splashed across the backs of their jerseys.
They made names for themselves this season all right, none of them moreso than Aldridge and his batterymate Damian Lillard.
Both were All-Stars on an inspiring Trail Blazers team that shocked everyone by finishing fifth in the snake pit that is the Western Conference and then knocking off the Houston Rockets in the first round. But they were no match for the three-time conference finalist Spurs and lost in quick fashion in a blink-and-you-missed-it, five-game
series.
“LaMarcus is a three-time All-Star, and he’s already taken his game to another level,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “What I liked about LA the most is his leadership.”
Both of Stotts’ best Blazers could remain All-Stars at Portland for the foreseeable future, but you wonder.
Aldridge has to wonder as well, because Portland did not show up in this series and was closed out even as Spurs catalyst Tony Parker played only 10 scoreless minutes because of a tight hamstring.
Aldridge has one more season on a contract that will pay him $15.2 million before he becomes one of the most attractive players on the free agent market. Such mobile, 6-foot-11 power forwards with a sweet jump shot on the perimeter and perhaps an almost-too-sweet personality don’t grow on trees. He averaged more than 26 points and 10 rebounds a game.
And you wonder about Aldridge’s future if this mature 28-year-old ever gets a little meaner on the court, becomes more physical as a shot-blocker and rebounder and surrounds himself with better players.
Could that be in Portland, which had a more-than-respectable season with its first playoff series win since 2000 and has Lillard for two more years? After all, the Trail Blazers are dangerously thin with no bench beyond 6-1 gunner Mo Williams and little frontcourt offensive firepower.
Once the Spurs neutralized Lillard and held him to only four 3-pointers in 23 tries — he hit 218 during the regular season and 402 the last two years — they smothered Aldridge with Tiago Splitter’s length, Boris Diaw’s craftiness and their helping teammates.
When a Portland writer asked about his plans as Aldridge walked down the AT&T Center hallway back to the visiting locker room, the former Texas Longhorn said, “We’ll go over it this summer with my agent. We just lost.”
And Aldridge may be lost in his thoughts this offseason, enticed by the idea of extending his contract with a Trail Blazers team that was electric at times and offers one of the game’s emerging point guards along with a versatile wingman in 6-8 Nicolas Batum, a solid shooting guard in Wesley Matthews and a strong if offensive- ly challenged center in Robin Lopez.
But Aldridge may be intrigued by other landing spots as well.
Wouldn’t he look terrific in a Spurs uniform? Could the totally selfless Aldridge become part of that franchise’s next Big Three, joining rising star Kawhi Leonard and a still-inhis-prime Parker while allowing center Splitter to do the dirty work inside? Sounds like a pretty intimidating bunch.
Could he return to his home area and replace the aging Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas and become the next anchor piece for the Mavericks? Mark Cuban has struck out on free agents Dwight Howard and Deron Williams, but might have more luck on this favorite son.
Some who know Aldridge don’t think he’ll be overly swayed by just a deep desire to return to his home state. He badly wants to win, however, and that makes him very appealing although you’d think if he added the 3-point shot to his game, he really could develop into a legitimate league MVP threat. As it was, he was a fringe candidate this year, finishing 10th, well behind thirdplace finisher Blake Griffin.
His shot is almost as unblockable as is fellow Longhorn Kevin Durant’s. And while we’re imagining, Rick Barnes still has to stay up nights fantasizing about both of those trees in the same Texas lineup, a tandem that was never realized because Aldridge left after his sophomore season just before Durant arrived on campus.
Both had spectacular careers in Austin, Durant moreso individually with seven national Player of the Year awards, but Aldridge collectively with an Elite Eight appearance that was stopped short of the Final Four by LSU and Glen “Big Baby” Davis in a regional final overtime game.
Aldridge was in no mood to think about his long-term future Wednesday, and why should he? His team had just lost, overwhelmed by the superior, deeper, better-coached Spurs, but he took a big heap of the blame on himself.
“I actually got to the rim more this series than last,” he said. “I just missed a lot of easy shots. I didn’t play well this series. I’m proud of this team, but we’re not satisfied.”
Aldridge never is, and that means he’ll be a terrific asset for a long time to come. For Portland or someone else.