It wasn't the time to blow the team up. Come on, we had two allstars and a bunch of cap space and young players that we could move/trade.
not saying youre 100% wrong. But history of Free Agency doesn't lead me to err on the side of caution with us landing difference making FA's.
We would of still had significant cap space even after resigning LMA, Wes, and Lopez? I dont think so.
Umm dude. Did you not see what everyone signed for with other teams? Our cap space would be gone and we wouldn't be any better than last year. Now we might have been able to make moves with our bench and find another solid rotation guy, but we were close to maxed out and didn't have the missing pc. I think we were closer than most, but the train still hit the station and was done.
He did stiff us. As is his right. And I will turn my back on him. As is mine. Trust me I will never applaud LaMarcus Aldridge. His lack of respect and appreciation for the support he has received from Blazers fans will not be forgiven. May Tex The Diva rot in the purgatory of Duncan's Shadow.
We could have gone over the cap with our UFA due to bird rights. If Aldridge stayed, we likely would have at least gotten Monroe, then others would sign for cheap.
No, because the cap holds were large enough that we only had 2.4M in cap space without renouncing LA, Wes, or Rolo. We couldn't even sign Aminu without renouncing one of them. http://www.blazersedge.com/2015/7/1...us-aldridge-wesley-matthews-robin-lopez-aminu
the core is Lillard-Aldridge. Everyone else is replaceable. Had flexibility to do more. Look, Batum played like shit and is inconsistent, Wes tore his achillies and Lopez went downhill pretty significantly. New guys would have really bolstered it up. Even with the small signings we did, having Ed Davis as a backup. Gerald henderson at the 2. Plumlee as a backup or starter. Aminu at the 3. All pretty good without losing much of a step. Then we had what, another 10m And we could have signed more players on top of that.
OMG! I really hope that fans in the lower bowl take it upon themselves to shower LMA in marshmallows when he's announced prior to tip. I might have to buy tix to that game, plus a little "friend" to bring along:
But still, he would have been returning to a completely different team, with completely different expectations. As it was, even before choosing San Antonio, the team he knew was gone. Lillard and a few pips were all that remained. He didn't "blow up the team." He simply didn't return to a drastically reshaped one.
The expectations would have been higher. Blazers would have reloaded quite nicely. They had the talent and space to do so. Aldridge blew up the team, because he WAS the team.
You're kidding, right? You honestly think there's an NBA analyst out there that would agree that Connaughton/Henderson/Aminu/Vonleh/Davis/Plumlee is equivalent to Blake/Matthews/Gee/Afflalo/Wright/Batum/Freeland/Lopez in terms of a supporting cast for a win-now team? Your post is delusional. Then he didn't blow up the team; he simply relocated it 2000 miles southeast.
Your posts forgets the extra cap space. Greg Monroe probably would have committed to Portland had Aldridge resigned. And neil probably wasn't done wheeling and dealing
