One thing in our favor when trying to re-sign Aldridge...

LMA signed a 5 year, $65 million deal after his rookie contract expired. That is not a huge contract for a guy that went on to have multiple All-Star seasons. Realistically we got him at a bargain price. We could have easily been paying him max money.

Aldridge will be 30 this year, and this is his last real chance to sign a big contract. The difference between what the Blazers can offer him and what the Spurs/Mavs/Lakers/etc can offer him, is still a pretty massive dollar figure.

Can Aldridge afford to pass up those tens of millions of dollars? He doesn't get the same endorsement deals, even if he was in a larger market. I guess we could do a sign-and-trade, but I was under the impression that sign-and-trade deals don't work the same way that they used to.

That extra money could be a real big weapon while trying to retain his services.

 

problem is he can sign a 2 yr deal with anyone with the second yr being a player option, then opt out next summer and get a very big 4 yr deal under the new and much higher revenue stream

 

You are correct on sign and trade deals. They no longer carry with them the extra year and larger raises they used to. Now it's the same as signing outright with that team. Only benefit is going to a team without cap space, or otherwise, a benefit for us if we were losing him anyways to get a tpe.

 

That's a pretty big gamble though. He's not a kid anymore. After playing with guys like Roy and Oden and now Wesley, I would take a long hard look at that kind of strategy. Wes was due to make a pretty hefty raise this summer, and now I would think that figure could be cut in half. Roy signed his big deal and never played a day of that contract (if I remember correctly). Oden took the one year deal and never really played much again.

 

Did they talk about how he signed a fairly small contract after his rookie deal expired? Because that was really the point of the thread...... BREAKING NEWS!@!!!111!11!!!!!

 

Mods, please change the title to "38 Million Things In Our Favor..."

 

Not exactly true... He could do this, but he would have to play the full 2 years to qualify for Bird rights. So if he played those 2 seasons then signed the big deal then he would be at 7 years total and a boatload of money.... If he were to opt out after 1 season there would be no Bird rights so his team would be limited to cap-space to re-sign him... Meaning he would be limited to a 4 year deal for lower raises... So 2 less years and quite a bit less money.

So this is a plausible situation he will be weighing. He will be 30, and once you get in that age range, ruptured Achilles and stress fractures to feet and other things become more and more plausible. So sign a 2 year deal and have a career ending injury or a limiting injury. Now where does he stand? Guys his age look for financial security knowing they can always gravy train for a ring once they've got the big money in the bank and played out that contract.

 

That was with Roy still kicking.

 

Portland should be able to offer Lamarcus the best chance to win in the NBA also, in addition to paying the most. There is no damn reason for that man to leave.

The Blazers have a center that can really help Lamarcus if he learns to play with him. Meyer might be the best shooter in ages in the league and he can board and defend big centers. And he should be doing it until Lamarcus can't even make muster.

Same with the SG. CJ shot .478 on FG and .478 on threes. Needs to work on his free throws though, but dam good in the playoff. We are good even if Wes has trouble.

I think Batum probably has problem with his wrist which should be fixed by time off. Same as Lamarcus himself.

We may have a problem at PG, but Portland can fix that before next season. Lillard shot .161 from three and .406 from the field during the playoffs and only managed to produce 4.6 assists per game. This is not even a bench quality PG. The worst thing, even worse than his piss poor defense, was his inability to recongnize who are his best shooter on the court. I do not think he got one assist helping Meyer get a shot. Even worse, I did not see him even pass the ball to him once, The best shooter on the court and the man ignored him. That is dumb. I don't know what the hell is wrong with him but it is fixable by him or a serviceable PG.

A serviceable PG can work with Meyer, Lamarcus, Batum, and CJ. With a good PG, we have a potential Champion on the court if they are all healthy and the have a coach that knows how to play offense five players at a time, not just a pair or solo and observers.

Tell Lamarcus these thing will be fixed and you expected him to be the captain of the next NBA champion.

 

I'm shocked you were able to look away from Reddit long enough to notice

 

LaMarcus should listen to The Chuckster and TAKE THE MONEY. Forget door number two, just take the money. A career can be over, or seriously hampered in an instant. Do not take a two year deal thinking you are going to get a bigger payday down the road. TAKE THE MONEY.

 

My Uncle used to always say, "can't even make mustard," lol. Used to drive my dad (his brother) crazy...

 

I thought you had to be with a team for 3 years to have bird rights? Did that change recently? If LMA only signed a 2 year deal and either opted out after 1 year or did the full 2 years) then wouldn't the team he signed with (outside of us) have to have cap space to sign him again?

 

Yes sir! But he could have a 2 year with us and still have his bird rights because he's played with us for more than 3 years

 

Two words about the timing of a contract extension....Wesley Mathews!

 

Yes that is why I said outside of us.

So someone above said he would try the two year deal thing (with opt out after 1 year) with another team (not us) and that couldn't be done. Unless they meant side and trade deal. Can he have opt out in a sign and trade? Even if he could I not sure why we would accommodate him on that request.

 

Well that person doesn't know what he's talking about. No team would give him an opt out after year one, knowing they have no shot at re-signing him. Only the Blazers can give him that type of flexible offer. Maybe that's another plus for us? Like him giving us one more year without injuries

 

If I was LMA and I had just seen how Wes had a potentially career altering injury, I would certainly take notice.