Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! I'm going to have to take a hiatus from this site. Some of you guys are un-fucking-real..we now have our BIG 3 under contract for the foreseeable future, not only that, but these guys WANT to be here. We will never ever have cap room again with this core, and it is not OUR money, so who the hell cares how much we spent. I for one am thrilled we signed the best power forward in the league 3 years from now.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! It does seem like we're amongst people who take things too seriously, and at times, seek out negativity or conspiracy like reasons for things. Like, instead of just thinking that it's the pre-season, we have to come up with reasons why they're playing bad. As if the fact they haven't played the same starting 5 any of the games (due to injuries and other reasons), and Rudy has missed a lot of the pre-season, and Roy hasn't done jack most of the pre-season (no need to) and Miller still is adjusting a bit doesn't play a role in things. I'm with yah on the thrilled part, and the hiatus part.
It doesn't come as a surprise that some posters can't understand how two things can be equally true. Everyone is happy that LA is a Blazer, but it appears the club may have overpaid which might limit them resigning other key players in the future if ownership doesn't want to pay the lux tax. Is the problem that those posters don't understand how the lux tax works? Dude is my favorite Trailblazer, but I'd like to see them be able to resign Rudy, Batum and anyone else who might blow up as well. STOMP
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! I have to agree. I can't believe the Blazers dragged their feet on this deal for months, and then signed him for this kind of money. What the heck were they holding out for if they were going to cave in eventually anyway??
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! This is what Al Jeff makes. Which makes this deal "market correct". Al Jeff is a better offensive player. LMA is a better defensive player. Overall - does not seem too bad.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! It's a great deal. LA is already a a real good player and borderline All-Star, and he's only going to get better. In 3 years, he's going to be a bargain. To have our two studs locked up for the next five years is a real good thing.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! Well, pretty much all professional athletes are overpaid. But this is the market.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! Great news! Aldridge is worth every penny. From Chad Ford I'm sorry to interrupt your negativity though, carry on.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! If you want to talk about paying too much, look at Rashard Lewis' contract. 6/118. Aldridge averaged more pts, rebs, blks, and had a better shooting % the past two seasons, and Aldridge can still get better while Lewis has undoubtedly hit his ceiling.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! I, for one, am super stoked that this is out of the way. I always suspected that 60-70 was FAIR MARKET VALUE for a player of LMAs caliber. Shit, Jermaine O'neal is making over 20 this year. Bosh is set to make 16. Brand is making ~ 15. K-Mart is making 15. For a player with LMA's combo of offense and defense, lack of off the court issues, and length/athleticism, not to mention relative youth and remaining upside, I think the 5/65 deal is market value. This is basically Ty Chandler/Carlos Boozer money. I don't know about y'all, but I'd take LMA over any of the aforementioned players. Well, maybe not Bosh...
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! Jefferson signed two years ago, before the salary cap was clearly on the decline and the economy was in the shitter. The CBA was two years farther from expiring. Jefferson signed a bigger extension because market conditions were better for players. Aldridge and Jefferson are similar players, I agree... but Aldridge did much better than Jefferson did given the economic conditions around the league and country. Ed O.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! Like many others, I'm thrilled this deal got done and Aldridge is locked up long term, but the future ramifications are a little worrisome. Ideally I would have liked to see a deal around 5 years 60mil, at a flat 12 per year. What I will say is that without knowing the starting salary and the per year raises I'm hopeful the Blazers front loaded this contract as much as they could. His final year could be over 15mil, but if they structured it right it could also be close to 14 mil. That would give the organization a small sliver of breathing room relatively speaking.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! If LMA plays as well as I hope he does this season, the contract will be a bargin. Why? Because this next off season is the one teams have been targeting for 3 years. There are going to be teams out there with a metric fuck ton of money under the cap. If they can't get a LeBron, Wade or Bosh LMA might be a fantastic consolation prize. They could offer him more then he is going to get paid under this deal with Portland. Not I am not saying that would happen for sure. But it is possible.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! True, but Jeffesron also signed for a team clearly rebuilding for many years to come, the Blazers feel like they have an opportunity at greatness for a pretty decent stretch of years - and as such, to miss on Aldridge, one of the pillars of that team - would hurt the team more, it seems, in the grand scheme of things. At the end of the day - it seems like a fair price, for a very good player with some untapped potential. Maybe, maybe not. I think LMA's potential as an all around player is higher than Al Jeff - simply because he seems like he has the tools and interest in being a great defensive player. So - overall, I think this can come down to a win-win situation. Both parties should be feeling good about this deal.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! Being an "Allstar" should not be part of the equation. Making that part of the incentive starts promoting selfishness amongst the players IMO. They start playing for themselves and not the team. Having a deep team mean your stats go down. Winning is everything and the only thing that matters. 13 million a year is just fine for LMA. Why worry about an extra million a year when your payroll is that high anyways. Someone would over pay to steal him away. Good move.
Re: ALDRIDGE SIGNED! He was posting over in the O-Live Blazer forum congratulations to me and he's looking forward to going to a game soon. Until he proves otherwise I'm going to believe that he has every intention of paying up. And besides, he may have lost but he still gets to go to a Blazer game. There are worse bets he could have lost.
