Aren't you glad Aldridge isn't playing like this for another team?

Dirk isn't a great defender, but at least he understands HOW to rotate on defense. LMA might have him on man/man defense, but Dirk (barely) edges him on team defense. And his offense is superior to LMA's. So if you've got two poor defenders, one of whom is good on offense and one of whom is very good on offense which do you take? Obviously at this stage in his career I don't want Dirk, but he IS still the better player.

Dirk was damn lucky to ever win a championship - the stars aligned for that one. Duncan is the only PF in the modern era that you could build a championship team around, and expect success. Building around any other PF is folly - this isn't about LMA, this is about how the game/positions are played. PFs should be ancillary players that make those around them better, rather than the focal point of a team. Bosh couldn't do shit in the weak East until he became an ancillary player. Pau couldn't do shit until he became ancillary to Kobe. KG couldn't do shit until he became ancillary to Pierce/Allen. And even Duncan, to an extent, became ancillary to Parker/Ginobili.

 

Fortunately we don't have just "Aldridge". There is a player and his name is Damien Lillard. Batum seems to be a perfect 3rd option as well. You talk as though Aldridge is our only quality player. Obviously that is far from the truth.

 

I'm just very happy to have him. He and Dame are becoming a wicked 1-2 punch.

 

Unfortunately he's not nearly as good at those "little things" like setting picks, making quick/good passes, or rotating on defense. That's what made those other PFs good in their ancillary roles - by and large they were very good in at least one, if not all of those areas.

Also, we're still playing through him as our #1 option on offense. That MIGHT change as Lillard continues to improve. But that's not really the point. Our PF isn't good enough at the ancillary tasks to elevate the team to another level. And, beyond that, do we really want to pay a guy $18M/year to be an inefficient ancillary player? That's what it all boils down to for me - in order to keep him we're going to have to pay him FAR more than he's worth which will keep us from being able to add the necessary players to turn this team into a contender.

 

Is there any current player in the league you can build a championship team around and expect success outside of LeBron?

 

I would have to say no. But if you're building a team from scratch your #1 pick shouldn't be a PF - at least not until there's another transcendental PF in the league.

 

All this is moot I believe. Dame will soon be (in he isn't already) our #1. He has taken the leap.

 

Yeah, duh the #1 pick would be LeBron. I think the Blazers should make that choice.

Unfortunately the Blazers don't have that choice. They can’t even get a Durant or Irving for him. They can't cut Aldridge and magically add a top all-star from another team. They’d have to bring in a free agent like Al Jefferson, Tiago Splitter, or an injured Andrew Bynum. Keeping Aldridge on the team isn’t the best option conceptually available in all of basketball. Duh! But its better than the available alternatives.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...rcus-aldridge-portland-trail-blazers/3440343/

 

The heat are paying bosh 18 mil to be a third fiddle. Aldridge is a better player than Bosh, hands down. Then look around the league and find third fiddles that are payed anywhere from 11-18 mil. Fortunately Aldridge isn't the "third fiddle". He is our best player now, but most likely will be 1b on our offense.

There isn't a player that can guard Aldridge one on one. He is vastly under appreciated in this forum, while people around the league (coaches mainly) vote him in as an all star.

 

Watching League Pass has really opened my eyes to the praise he gets from other observers. He's damn, damn good and a huge advantage to have at PF. I have accepted that he's not a bruiser down low. He can be at times, but I'll accept that he's not the Mailman. And in this day and age, to have a big as durable as he's been is just HUGE.

Not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth on this one.

 

Although I am in the "glad LMA plays for us" camp, this is a pretty good point. I would also include centers in that group as well. To me Howard is way overpaid for what he brings to the table. But I would still like to have him on my team. As I would still rather have LMA on my team.

But overall guards/wings are top priority in building a team. Which is why OKC fucked up so badly letting Harden get away. That 3 headed monster would have won a few championships.

But trading LMA for another PF does not excite me. A young allstar SG would, but that will never happen.

 

If success is winning a championship, I'd add Dirk and KG to try list of potential PF types to build around. The obvious elephant is that they need a strong guard to play beside, or their talents are wasted.

 

But what guard is going to win championships without any big men? That logic works both ways. Kobe had either Shaq or a twin tower combo of Bynum/Pau. Without those all-stars Kobe’s team was in the lottery. How good was Chris Paul without any big men?

To compete a team needs multiple talented teammates. It can be at any of the 5 positions what matters most is having better players than the other teams. If Aldridge is better than the other teams big men than he is not the problem. That doesn’t guarantee his team will win but it’s a good start.

 

If you could trade Aldridge production for any PF/C in the league right now who would it be? I would consider a deal for any of Noah, Love, Griffin, Howard, Marc Gasol, Davis, Horford, or Hibbert. I wouldn't consider any other players. That’s out of two starters for all 30 teams, 60 total players. There are 8 on his level. So he’s clearly superior to 87% of the big men in the NBA. That is a very valuable asset to any team and if we could get the same superiority from guards or wings in the next few seasons we’d be a guaranteed contender.

 

MJ.

 

I totally agree (though Jordan won without dominant big men, that's a complete outlier). I don't mean to sound like I'm starting an argument.

 

I'd pretty much only trade LMA for Marc Gasol.

 

My additions: B.Lopez, Drummond, Boogie, Bosh.

Would give serious consideration to if packaged: Deandre Jordan, Monroe, Valanciunas. I'm forgetting probably others.

 

Wow what a buzzkill. No wonder you don't like him so much. Perspective is reality I guess.