Marc Stein: Spurs are #1 on LaMarcus Aldridge's list

[Mugen]

He could pass on us for the same reason Gasol passed last year (and Webber and Malone did years ago). He doesn't want to coat-tail on a near-championship roster. He wants to win 'legitimately'.

crofl, how did that turn out for Pau? The answer is probably significantly better than it will turn out for Aldridge if he stays in Portland or signs with the Suns

[Dex]

If this guy is going to be so picky as to be like...I want to win a championship, but I want to be the first option and get all the credit and get max money...

Then off, tbh.

Don't act like Tim Duncan until you have earned it.

[ducks]

He is terrible I live in AZ he sucks

[Kawhi]

How long is Aldridge going to drag out his decision, tbh? It's 11:45 AM here and I have done zero work in the office so far. Just been refreshing SpursTalk and Twitter.

he still has a meeting with the knicks tomorrow

[Marcus Bryant]

Obviously, if the Spurs were able to reverse the trade which has no details, you'd have some damage control with Splitter, and obviously the coziness between the Spurs and Hawks could be an issue to the extent that the new Commissioner wanted to mess with both franchises.

[Holden_Caulfield]

if i was LMA and the spurs werent an option, id go to the bucks

[palangi]

This Arizona guy is coming off pretty desperate.

[Shastafarian]

Honestly him going to PHX isn't terrible if he's going to turn down the Spurs. If he were to go to Houston...

[BillMc]

How long is Aldridge going to drag out his decision, tbh? It's 11:45 AM here and I have done zero work in the office so far. Just been refreshing SpursTalk and Twitter.

Yep, I'll never get any work done until this is over.

[bklynspursfan]

duncan guards most centers anyway, what's the big deal.

[Samr]

Sometimes we can look at history as a harbinger of things to come. When LaMarcus was entering his freshman year of high school in the Dallas area back in 2000, Dirk Nowitzki had just completed his 2nd year in the league and was becoming an emerging star. Also at this time, there was a prize free agent at another Texas franchise further south. This free agent played the field and took his time coming to a decision. He toyed with the idea of joining the Orlando Magic, forming something along the lines of the Big Three we saw in Miami recently. Instead, he chose to stay at home and return to San Antonio. The key is, he didn't rush a decision. LaMarcus admires Duncan and is doing the same.

Wouldn't surprise me in the least if that's some of what Duncan told him. Did the whole "man to man, this decision is going to change your life. Take your time and do what you feel is right for you personally. Don't rush it. Spurs wouldn't want me to rush a major decision, and we don't want you to rush one either."

Imo, Spurs wouldn't want to sign someone just for the sake of the team. I know that sounds off, but they're about more than that. They'd want the person they sign to be happy about their decision to live in San Antonio and play basketball with the squad. Quality of life thing. One unhappy dude -- no matter how great he is -- is not only contagious to other players, but it's also just not morally right to have him on your team if he doesn't want to be. Remember when they let Sjax go right before the playoffs?

Spurs are happy to wait it out. Spurs fans on the other hand....

[Ice009]

he still has a meeting with the knicks tomorrow

As I said in the previous page, I get him wanting to take his time, I guess I can't really have an issue with that, but why in the F is he meeting with teams like this? Honestly, he's wasting his own time and their time. What's the point of meeting with the Knicks and/or teams like the Raptors?

[Marcus Bryant]

Still, I think at this point Pop has probably brainwashed Splitter to the point that he's happy to do his part to get Aldridge to SA.

[Uriel]

Will he have made his decision 12 hours from now? That's pretty much midnight my time. I'm willing to stay up late waiting for his decision, but not until 2 / 3 AM.

[DPG21920]

Not sure of the mechanics, but if you haven't submitted the paperwork to the league office and both teams agree at a later date to not do it, I think that works.

Further, even if they notified the league, I think, again, if both parties agree to rescind the trade, then it can be.

Of course, there's always Atlanta flunking Splitter on his physical if the trade needed to be reversed.

Definitely know the formal rules, just meant "real world". I highly doubt the Spurs would back out - especially since ATL has now "spent" their cap space on Tiago and other FA's are getting accounted for. They like SA, but I just can't see that happening.

So it's more about the first part - how bad will it hurt Tim's chances in what could be his last two years?

[BillMc]

As I said in the previous page, I get him wanted to take his time, but why the F is he meeting with teams like this? Honestly, he's wasting his own time and their time. What's the point of meeting with the Knicks and/or teams like the Raptors?

Probably out of respect for Phil Jackson and his 11 rings...

[Marcus Bryant]

6) Aldridge doesn't want to play for a franchise with no les.
7) Aldridge wants to play for a team with a drunkard as an owner, and not a straight up d-bag.

[Kawhi]

As I said in the previous page, I get him wanting to take his time, I guess I can't really have an issue with that, but why in the F is he meeting with teams like this? Honestly, he's wasting his own time and their time. What's the point of meeting with the Knicks and/or teams like the Raptors?

free meal

[Robz4000]

Honestly him going to PHX isn't terrible if he's going to turn down the Spurs. If he were to go to Houston...

Either he joins the Spurs and they're one of the le favorites, or he doesn't and it won't matter who he joind as the Spurs would have a ceiling of 1st/2nd round exit for the time he'd have an impact wherever he went.

[Shastafarian]

As I said in the previous page, I get him wanted to take his time, but why the F is he meeting with teams like this? Honestly, he's wasting his own time and their time. What's the point of meeting with the Knicks and/or teams like the Raptors?

Any team in the East has to be enticing for the mere fact that one elite player can elevate that team to the ECSF or ECF.

[Shastafarian]

Robz: For a year sure. Who knows what 2016-2017 would bring, especially with an expanding cap.

[Vic Petro]

How long is Aldridge going to drag out his decision, tbh? It's 11:45 AM here and I have done zero work in the office so far. Just been refreshing SpursTalk and Twitter.

You won't know until you wake up tomorrow. He's going thru with his Knicks meeting which will presumably be tomorrow morning. If it lasts 2 hours like the rest, the earliest we'd know is around 11am or 12pm tomorrow Los Angeles time, which is 14-15 hours from now.

[Beaverfuzz]

He lost me at "good team".

[SpurPadre]

You won't know until you wake up tomorrow. He's going thru with his Knicks meeting which will presumably be tomorrow morning. If it lasts 2 hours like the rest, the earliest we'd know is around 11am or 12pm tomorrow Los Angeles time, which is 14-15 hours from now.

Unless that Phoenix radio host is right about him wanting a 2nd meeting with 3 teams...

[Marcus Bryant]

Definitely know the formal rules, just meant "real world". I highly doubt the Spurs would back out - especially since ATL has now "spent" their cap space on Tiago and other FA's are getting accounted for. They like SA, but I just can't see that happening.

So it's more about the first part - how bad will it hurt Tim's chances in what could be his last two years?

If I had to guess, ATL had a good feel for who they wanted to touch base with in free agency among the first tier free agents. Further, what details are really left? A deal not involving any Hawks contracts would lead to some mix of draft rights and future draft picks. What is left to discuss? Only if the Spurs don't need the cap space because Aldridge or another FA doesn't sign then maybe they take back a contract as opposed to rights and/or picks? That's the only scenario that makes sense, but at the end of the day, even with a salary dump, you aren't trading away the rotting corpse of Brendan Haywood's NBA career. You should receive good value in exchange for Splitter with 2 yrs/$17 mil left, especially with next year's salary cap increase pretty much guaranteeing that every bigman in the league makes $10+ mil per.