This! I don't care what a stat sheet says either. If they don't guard Melo he will torch them. Everyone knows this. Some teams have a good enough player to guard him one on one. Hello??? If they use that player on Melo they ain't using him on Lillard. Other teams don't have a player that can guard him so they use two. Hello??? If they use two to guard him one of them isn't on Lillrad. They pay plenty of attention to Melo and he still is getting 14 points a game off the bench. He is also shooting over 38% from three. But STATS say different? really? Remember. Nobody guarded Aminu. NOBODY.
Not much risk in signing him to a one-year vets min contract if he gets bought out. That’s about as far as I would go.
I think that is true. I honestly think his last season he knew he would leave unless they made a serious run. He left the door open so he could change his mind but when Wes went down it was over. I actually could see it in the way he played after that injury.
I think most agree. It's a vets min. he's a serviceable big they can use. He's better than Giles for sure.
Oh, I meant at the time. Not the present situation. We put all our chips on LMA returning and it blew up in our face.
I’m not doubting you on that. That’s likely the reason Paul Allen and Olshey flew down to LA and gave Aldridge the sales pitch laying out an offer of an extension or a new contract at a later date. It was after that meeting that Aldridge issued the statements about wanting to remain with the Blazers and being willing to re-sign in the Summer of 2015. He changed his mind again.
Okay, I can agree with that criticism of Olshey and Allen. They thought they had him convinced, but they got out-schmoozed by Pop.
LaMarcus Aldridge on his pledge to stay in Portland: 'What is ... www.nbcsports.com › northwest › portland-trail-blazers
What do you mean by "no source, first hand?" You were actually in the room when Aldridge informed Blazers' management? That's what first hand means. Were you working for the team at the time?
Neil Olshey said Lamarcus had earned the right to explore free agency and that was known...Lamarcus said he had 4 teams to decide between but the Blazers were his second choice after the Spurs...he's from Texas...the mistake was the Blazer front office thinking they could keep him after he met with the Suns, Lakers and Spurs.....they gambled and lost and yes....should've traded him before that knowing what happened in hindsight....I don't believe he told them he was gone a year ahead of leaving ....as a matter of fact he's on tape saying the opposite. Paul Allen must have believed him then and was probably pissed when he bailed. It's all good though...things have a way of working out over time
I love Dame but I don't think he should have shit to do with what the roster looks like. The only way he should have any effect on the roster is if our GM says that we're targeting a guy in free agency and Dame is asked to help recruit him.
He was struggling with Dame becoming the star and his marketing ventures. It was tough for him allowing a player from a small school come in and bump him. I felt that if he wanted to help both himself and the Blazers he could have worked with them to orchestrate a trade. Oh well, I was actually glad he was able to go home and be with his son and mother, he sure did earn the right to do so.
Maybe he shouldn't but he does...just like KD, Harden, Lebron, all the superstars...they lobby for teammates...it's why we have "big threes" joining forces and winning championships.....now not only can a player lobby for another player, seems they can lobby to get traded to a team with players they want to play with. Blake Griffin just said today it was KD who convinced him to choose the Nets...
How many super stars have there been that didnt have influence and/or say with their team? I agree with you though that it should be run like business and players are players and management is management, but we know thats not mostly the case.
he didn't go home. he went to another team 300 miles away. he specifically said he didn't want to go to Dallas because it was "too close to home." I'm sorry, but that guy was fake as hell.
Yes, he had a kid in San Antonio as well, but the narrative about the Mavs (as noted in the article I linked) was that there were too many voices and distractions in Dallas. He "wanted to be close to home — just not too close." So I don't buy it, and don't really care for it. I lost all respect for him after he abandoned his team and flew back to Portland after Game 2 in the playoffs on his own plane. Dude has some issues, and quite a lot of them were ego driven.
Yeah, there's no doubt that Aldridge has a pretty large ego and is probably an annoying person to have influence on your work environment. If he were still a lead star, I wouldn't be particularly enthused about signing him back. But if he's coming back as a role-player, on a team that's quite clearly Dame's team, and Dame is cool with working with him...I think it makes the team better, which is what matters ultimately. It's not like, say, making peace with someone who committed sexual assault. Aldridge didn't do anything disqualifying, IMO, he just had an attitude that you wouldn't want in a leader.
Do you truly think he would make our team better? i really don't see what he would bring to our team that we don't already have in Melo/Kanter. If this was two months ago, sure-- but Nurk's return is around the corner. It's more about opportunity cost for me. I'd rather fill a position of need.
