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When Paul Allen and Neil Olshey walked out of a June meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge, the Portland Trail Blazers’ owner and general manager were uneasy with the two words that had been ominously absent from Aldridge’s lips: Damian Lillard.
Before the start of free agency, the exhausting, contradictory nature of Aldridge left Blazers officials uneasy. When Olshey had arrived as general manager five years ago, Aldridge was a star stranded on a lottery team. Surround me with talent, Aldridge implored. Olshey dipped into the next NBA draft and delivered Lillard, an All-Star point-guard talent with character for miles.
For all of Aldridge’s personal success and the Blazers’ winning over the next three years, for every way in which Lillard tried to be a deferential co-star – passing on praise in the locker room and assertion on the court – Aldridge treated Lillard like a competitor, as someone stealing his spotlight.
Aldridge walked out the door, Olshey reassembled the roster, and Lillard signed a five-year, $120 million extension with one hand and clutched something else with the other: The responsibility that goes with a max deal, with a franchise star’s stature.
And back then, here’s something that no one could’ve imagined: Aldridge’s season could end only 24 hours after Lillard’s, with the Spurs in Oklahoma City for Game 6 Thursday.
Read the rest here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-in...-the-blazers--franchise-player-143536444.html
Before the start of free agency, the exhausting, contradictory nature of Aldridge left Blazers officials uneasy. When Olshey had arrived as general manager five years ago, Aldridge was a star stranded on a lottery team. Surround me with talent, Aldridge implored. Olshey dipped into the next NBA draft and delivered Lillard, an All-Star point-guard talent with character for miles.
For all of Aldridge’s personal success and the Blazers’ winning over the next three years, for every way in which Lillard tried to be a deferential co-star – passing on praise in the locker room and assertion on the court – Aldridge treated Lillard like a competitor, as someone stealing his spotlight.
Aldridge walked out the door, Olshey reassembled the roster, and Lillard signed a five-year, $120 million extension with one hand and clutched something else with the other: The responsibility that goes with a max deal, with a franchise star’s stature.
And back then, here’s something that no one could’ve imagined: Aldridge’s season could end only 24 hours after Lillard’s, with the Spurs in Oklahoma City for Game 6 Thursday.
Read the rest here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-in...-the-blazers--franchise-player-143536444.html
