OT LaMarcus Aldridge requested a trade from SAS this summer

[BrianFromWA]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...nio-spurs-asked-traded-gregg-popovich-reveals

I know many of you are shocked (shocked!) about this, but it's a continuing process, it seems, that even Pop wasn't ready for.

Asked what helped to bring about Aldridge's resurgent 2017-18 campaign, Popovich deadpanned: "When he said, 'I want to be traded.'"

"It's as simple as that," Popovich said. "I said, 'Whoa, nobody's ever said that to me before.' It's my 20-whatever year, and nobody's ever said that like, 'I'm not enjoying this. I'm not confident. I'm not sure you want me here. I want to be traded.'"

But there seems to be a first time for everything when dealing with the would-be Greatest Blazer Ever. I have to admit, I laughed at the comment Pop had about it. Perfect.

I was very candid with him. I told him, 'I'd be happy to trade you. You get me a talent like Kevin Durant, and I'll drive you to the airport. I'll pack your bags. And I will drive you there, get you on the plane, and get you seated.' He laughed you know, that kind of thing.

But then, b/c Pop don't mess around:

I said, 'But short of that, I'm your best buddy because you're here for another year, and you ain't going nowhere. Because we're not gonna get for you talentwise what we would want. So, let's figure this thing out.'

What he didn't say was "because the league seems to have found out that you don't shoot as well as we thought, you disappear in most playoff games that aren't in Houston, and your attitude kinda sucks, no one wants to give us anything remotely good for you and your huge contract."

 

[Natebishop3]

LMA would NEVER ask for a trade.

IMPOSSIBLE!

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

I'm surprised that Pop didn't realize what a big nothing Aldridge is during the recruiting process.
He's usually an excellent judge of basketball mental skills.

 

[Natebishop3]

The whole thing worked out quite well in the end, because many Spurs fans hate him.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Knowing what we know now, would anyone go back to the time LMA jumped ship and accept him back at that time if he had a change of heart an turned Pops down?

At the time many people (me included) would have loved having him change his mind and resign with POR. Would those people still share that mentality knowing what they know now?

I not trying to influence any vote here but I sure wouldn't want him back knowing what I know now. Even though it hurt us in talent on the court I think it was/is for the best.

P.S. I don't want to get into the whole we should have traded him then. That isn't what this is about. That is a separate conversation that has already been gone over plenty.

 

[dviss1]

Softest donut of the dozen...

 

[Scalma]

Knowing what we know now, would anyone go back to the time LMA jumped ship and accept him back at that time if he had a change of heart an turned Pops down?

At the time many people (me included) would have loved having him change his mind and resign with POR. Would those people still share that mentality knowing what they know now?

I not trying to influence any vote here but I sure wouldn't want him back knowing what I know now. Even though it hurt us in talent on the court I think it was/is for the best.

P.S. I don't want to get into the whole we should have traded him then. That isn't what this is about. That is a separate conversation that has already been gone over plenty.

No I wouldn’t. Quits the moment any adversity hits. Can’t win a championship with a guy like that.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

LaMarcus Aldridge requested a trade from SAS this summer

This summer or last summer? Not that I'm doubting Pops is a time traveler.

 

[Boob-No-More]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...nio-spurs-asked-traded-gregg-popovich-reveals

I know many of you are shocked (shocked!) about this, but it's a continuing process, it seems, that even Pop wasn't ready for.


But there seems to be a first time for everything when dealing with the would-be Greatest Blazer Ever. I have to admit, I laughed at the comment Pop had about it. Perfect.


But then, b/c Pop don't mess around:

What he didn't say was "because the league seems to have found out that you don't shoot as well as we thought, you disappear in most playoff games that aren't in Houston, and your attitude kinda sucks, no one wants to give us anything remotely good for you and your huge contract."

I know we all hate Aldridge, but this exchange shows great personal growth. At least he gave the Spurs the opportunity to get something in return and didn't, ya know, tell them he wanted to be the greatest Spur ever, ya know, and then leave them holding their dicks, ya know...

BNM

 

[Natebishop3]

I know we all hate Aldridge, but this exchange shows great personal growth. At least he gave the Spurs the opportunity to get something in return and didn't, ya know, tell them he wanted to be the greatest Spur ever, ya know, and then leave them holding their dicks, ya know...

BNM

This assumes that LMA told the Blazers the same thing that he told the fans. I'm fairly confident that he requested a trade at one point, and we tried to win him over.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I know we all hate Aldridge, but this exchange shows great personal growth. At least he gave the Spurs the opportunity to get something in return and didn't, ya know, tell them he wanted to be the greatest Spur ever, ya know, and then leave them holding their dicks, ya know...

BNM

If the 2013 reports are to be believed, he did precisely the same thing here. Let management know, two years before the expiration of his contract, that he would like to be traded. And the reports in the following months were similarly glowing--team was built around him, wins piled up, and Aldridge was happy again. Temporarily.

Honestly, I'm not seeing a huge difference between Aldridge now and 4 years ago.

 

[ppilot]

Apparently the talk worked because he's having one of the best season's of his career.

 

[Stevenson]

Did anyone read the article? Jeez.

In it, Pop says that the problems with Lamarcus were actually his fault (Pop's), that he was using him wrong offensively, and that LMA is happy, is having a career year this year, and they re-signed him.

Reality is a bitch.

 

[BBert]

LMA would NEVER ask for a trade.

IMPOSSIBLE!

Hindsight

 

[Scalma]

Did anyone read the article? Jeez.

In it, Pop says that the problems with Lamarcus were actually his fault (Pop's), that he was using him wrong offensively, and that LMA is happy, is having a career year this year, and they re-signed him.

Reality is a bitch.

Naw the reality is he still cowers from adversity, and only produces when things are the way he wants them to be. The credit here goes to Pop, not Aldridge.

 

[Boob-No-More]

If the 2013 reports are to be believed, he did precisely the same thing here. Let management know, two years before the expiration of his contract, that he would like to be traded. And the reports in the following months were similarly glowing--team was built around him, wins piled up, and Aldridge was happy again. Temporarily.

Honestly, I'm not seeing a huge difference between Aldridge now and 4 years ago.

Yep, he said he wanted to play next to a "true center" (aka: NOT J.J. Hickson), a big body who could bang down low. Olshey went out and got him Robin Lopez and everything was hunky dory until Wes ruptured his Achille's.

This year, Pau has started all 41 games at center with Aldridge at PF. Last year, Pau started less than half the games and Pop experimented with other combinations with Aldridge (David Lee, Dwayne Dedmon).

Aldridge likes consistency and he likes to be paired with someone else willing to do the dirty work.

P.S. The part about personal growth was a joke. I was being sarcastic, ya know...

BNM

 

[SlyPokerDog]

LaLarcia will be an all star this year and Lillard won't.

This irritates me.

 

[tester551]

Knowing what we know now, would anyone go back to the time LMA jumped ship and accept him back at that time if he had a change of heart an turned Pops down?

At the time many people (me included) would have loved having him change his mind and resign with POR. Would those people still share that mentality knowing what they know now?

I not trying to influence any vote here but I sure wouldn't want him back knowing what I know now. Even though it hurt us in talent on the court I think it was/is for the best.

P.S. I don't want to get into the whole we should have traded him then. That isn't what this is about. That is a separate conversation that has already been gone over plenty.

I would have been very happy for him to re-sign with Portland.... only because I would have traded him as soon as I could have afterwards.

 

[Boob-No-More]

LaLarcia will be an all star this year and Lillard won't.

This irritates me.

Team performance matters. Aldridge has been the best player on a team that's 28-15. Lillard is the best player on a team that's 22-19. SAS has been missing Kawhi and Parker pretty much all season, and they are still in 3rd place, 5 games ahead of POR. The fact is, he's playing the best ball of his career and has been carrying that team.

Plus, the PG position is stacked in the West. PF, not so much.

BNM

 

[KeepOnRollin]

I would have been very happy for him to re-sign with Portland.... only because I would have traded him as soon as I could have afterwards.

For what? He would have gotten a bigger contract here then SA and even SA doesn't think they would get the value for him that they would want. So unless you just wanted to give him away (and you still have to match contracts remember) then I don't see how trading him after a massive contract (remember he was going to get an extra year and extra about 25% here) would have help any. You would have had some other guy (or other guys) instead of LMA just sucking up the cap.

 

[ripcityboy]

Pops is literally like Belicheck. Even his mistakes are viewed as opportunities for him to prove how great of a coach he really is. No player had ever asked for a trade, except Lamarcus.... and after a soul searching moment, Pops altered his godlike coaching methods. The end result, LMA is having the best season of his career.

I bow down to you Pops and your saintly Spurs!
You who are so pure as to make Boys Town look like The Gotham Home For The Criminally Insane.

 

[RipCityDSCPL]

LaLarcia will be an all star this year and Lillard won't.

This irritates me.

Lonzo Ball will be an All Star this year and Lillard won't.

That irritates me.

 

[blue9]

Team performance matters. Aldridge has been the best player on a team that's 28-15. Lillard is the best player on a team that's 22-19. SAS has been missing Kawhi and Parker pretty much all season, and they are still in 3rd place, 5 games ahead of POR. The fact is, he's playing the best ball of his career and has been carrying that team.

Plus, the PG position is stacked in the West. PF, not so much.

BNM

I do wonder what the respective records would be if the coaches swapped teams. I suspect the records would be the same*...for the coaches!

*Actually, I suspect SAS/Tater Totts would have fewer wins than we currently have.

 

[blue9]

For what? He would have gotten a bigger contract here then SA and even SA doesn't think they would get the value for him that they would want. So unless you just wanted to give him away (and you still have to match contracts remember) then I don't see how trading him after a massive contract (remember he was going to get an extra year and extra about 25% here) would have help any. You would have had some other guy (or other guys) instead of LMA just sucking up the cap.

Yeah, someone like Evan Turner!

 

[Hobbesarable]

Knowing what we know now, would anyone go back to the time LMA jumped ship and accept him back at that time if he had a change of heart an turned Pops down?

At the time many people (me included) would have loved having him change his mind and resign with POR. Would those people still share that mentality knowing what they know now?

I not trying to influence any vote here but I sure wouldn't want him back knowing what I know now. Even though it hurt us in talent on the court I think it was/is for the best.

P.S. I don't want to get into the whole we should have traded him then. That isn't what this is about. That is a separate conversation that has already been gone over plenty.

I was tired of his act during his time here and I wanted him gone long before he signed with the Spurs. Our team was able to move forward with Dame as the clear cut leader.

 

[e_blazer]

Lonzo Ball will be an All Star this year and Lillard won't.

That irritates me.

No he won’t. Not unless the fan vote puts him ahead of Harden, Westbrook, Thompson, Ginobili and Paul. The fans only vote for the starters and they only have 50% of the say in that this year. The coaches aren’t nearly as dumb as the fans and they select the bench.

 

[blue9]

I was tired of his act during his time here and I wanted him gone long before he signed with the Spurs. Our team was able to move forward with Dame as the clear cut leader.

Yup. YEARS before he signed with the Spurs I was tired of him. I don't care what he's doing with SAS because he'd never be able to do that here (or anywhere else!). And I still don't see him getting past the 2nd round.

 

[tester551]

For what? He would have gotten a bigger contract here then SA and even SA doesn't think they would get the value for him that they would want. So unless you just wanted to give him away (and you still have to match contracts remember) then I don't see how trading him after a massive contract (remember he was going to get an extra year and extra about 25% here) would have help any. You would have had some other guy (or other guys) instead of LMA just sucking up the cap.

This is such a hypothetical, I'm not sure. But a few of the top of my head:
- Cousins, Buttler, PG13, etc.
Even a pair of "lesser" players like Kanter/Oladipo or Player/+pick.

There would be lots of options. Maybe not what some would think would be "fair value" for

Yeah, someone like Evan Turner!

Agreed. Trading for players would have been a better use of Portland's resources than pure cap space.

I was tired of his act during his time here and I wanted him gone long before he signed with the Spurs. Our team was able to move forward with Dame as the clear cut leader.

Also agreed. He needed to move on, but with Portland could've traded him instead of him walking out the door.

 

[donkiez]

Did anyone read the article? Jeez.

In it, Pop says that the problems with Lamarcus were actually his fault (Pop's), that he was using him wrong offensively, and that LMA is happy, is having a career year this year, and they re-signed him.

Reality is a bitch.

The reality is that is what Pop has to say. Do you think it would help the situation at all if he said it was all LMAs fault and he needs to toughen up? It was a diplomatic answer from a real pro and leader.

 

[Chris Craig]

Spurs should trade his ass....they wont win another ring as long as he is on that team.