Canzano was going to call LMA, " indecent, obtuse and out of touch."

If you've been following LaMarcus Aldridge's offseason journey via social media, you know he's been to Paris and London, where he's tasted crepes for the first time and seen Buckingham Palace. He's spent time in California and Dallas, and he's stuck on the latest rap release by Wale. But until Saturday afternoon, I was concerned Aldridge didn't give a rip about the things being said about his future in Portland.

That changed via email when Aldridge wrote, "I haven't demanded a trade. It's not true."

Those few words are what Blazers fans have deserved to hear for the last week. Aldridge, who has two years left on his five-year, $65 million contract, was said to want out of Portland. Possibly to Chicago. Possibly, just out. And while that kind of warm frustration makes complete sense for a player who has spent seven seasons (five in lottery hell) trying to build a winner, what we hadn't heard was a word from Aldridge confirming, explaining or denying any of the heat.

His silence amounted to kerosene.

This column, had my deadline been mid-day Saturday, would have ripped Aldridge for being indecent, obtuse and out of touch. It would have pointed out that he promised in the NBA's pre-draft camp in 2006, "I will go out and compete every night and try to win. I work well with my teammates, and will work hard to get better every year." It would have called upon Aldridge to say something --anything -- because, like it or not, going silent with all the speculation ends up as a full-fledged endorsement of the notion that he's had enough and wants out.

That column evaporated, thankfully, the moment Aldridge exchanged emails with me and Oregonian beat reporter Joe Freeman. I'd written to Aldridge earlier Saturday, to be fair to him as I prepared to come out of my shoes swinging. My early draft lambasted the soft-spoken star for losing touch with the very thing that endears him to most Blazers fans: his refusal to be phony.

He doesn't trust easily. But he's never pretended to be joyful when he's frustrated. He's never been good at faking enthusiasm when we all know he's struggling to muster it. It's probably what caused some of this in the first place, as he sounded and looked drained at the end of the 33-victory regular season that had him playing too many minutes.

In my email, I told Aldridge that nobody would blame him if he wanted out. Face it, there are Blazers fans who probably want a trade. Like Aldridge, the die-hards in Portland have suffered through the longest playoff-series victory drought in the Western Conference. Like Aldridge, they've watched general managers they liked come and go. Like Aldridge, they've seen injuries and poor decisions undermine the master plan. Like him, we all watched last season as the organization asked too much of the few capable players it had on the roster.

I suspect that's why there wasn't more outrage toward Aldridge when the whispers and reports about him being unhappy leaked last week. Unlike Nicolas Batum, who was grilled over his remarks last summer about wanting to play in Minnesota, Aldridge's apparent unhappiness was met with a pack of fans in black and red, mostly nodding. And while I think there's probably a lot more complexity to the Aldridge case, he finally decided his voice needed to be part of the discussion.

Aldridge wrote, "I haven't demanded a trade. It's not true."

I replied, "Are you happy to come back?"

Aldridge shot back: "I'm excited to see who we get in free agency to make us better."

I replied, "Is there any part of you that is frustrated?"

Aldridge wrote: "This has blown up too far."

There's your context. There's your comment. Read into it all you want. There was no denial of his frustration, and it's clever and telling that he steered that exact question into a concise statement about the Blazers' free-agent summer. Portland has $11.6 million in salary-cap room, and maybe the biggest reason Aldridge has to speak out now is that he'll be instrumental in the Blazers' ability to attract another front-line player in the negotiating period that begins July 1.

We're about to enter one of the most competitive free agent summers in NBA history. There is $300 million worth of salary-cap room, and not $300 million worth of players. Houston hired Dwight Howard's former trainer this week, and the race for his services is on. So Aldridge's decision to go public, and make it clear that he's still engaged and hasn't formally asked for a trade, was big for the Blazers.

He hasn't demanded a trade. He's demanded help.

Feels like it's the front office's move.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...013/06/canzano_lamarcus_aldridge_emai.html#/0

 

Canzano is such a douche.

"If LMA doesn't respond to me I'm going to write an article trashing him."

 

Canzano and Freeman emailed LMA telling him Canzano was going to write an article trashing him if he didn't respond by Saturday afternoon. Fuck them for that. That's blackmail and very unprofessional.

 

Quick didn't harass or threaten LMA.

Canzano did.

 

FreeMAN. Joe Freeman. Blazer reporter for the Oregonian and Oregonlive. Not Joel Freeland, lol.

 

Rather than killing the messenger, or focusing on how terrible sportswriters in Portland are, let's talk about the most important part of the column, and the only part that's really relevant to the Blazers.

So, what are the chances that Olshey will be able to bring in enough help to alleviate LMA's "frustration". Is it all about getting him the shot-blocking, rim-clogging big man he's been pining for?