LMA is gone!

[slick'81]

Absolutely this. Too bad they couldn't work out a role for him because his 20-25 mins off the bench or whatever would have been more valuable than whatever they'd get in a trade.

Same folks who are celebrating he'll be traded will be the first to be disappointed by the returns.

should of moved on from him last season. Not expecting anything great to come back in this deal

[daslicer]

Absolutely this. Too bad they couldn't work out a role for him because his 20-25 mins off the bench or whatever would have been more valuable than whatever they'd get in a trade.

Same folks who are celebrating he'll be traded will be the first to be disappointed by the returns.

Spur fans are spoiled rotten. They still haven't figured out that most players want to score a ton of points and then win games. I'm not saying it's right but that's how most star players are wired. Michael Jordan cursed out Phil Jackson when Phil during the late 80's recommended Jordan to score less than 30 a game which Phil believed would help the bulls win more games. I'm paraphrasing but Jordan's response was " that I want to lead the league in scoring and also win games. We can do both." The compromise Phil made with Jordan was Jordan could score in the low 30's and still lead the league in scoring while giving other players an opportunity to score in the offense. Going by ST's logic Jordan would have been hated on here for being obsessed with stats.

[venitian navigator]

Imho he still has value, and this "decision", as his bad rebounding numbers and ty defensive at ude, simply confirms his lack of committment to our team since the beginning of this season (and probably just after the news on Poeltl contract).
Despite being a solid player, with obvious value determined by the numbers, LMA impact has always been related to his committment...see how better he played since he's been recognized as the main weapon of the team.
Good player but fragile ego and bad priorities (never in line with our team philosophy, at least what was the team philosophy before his coming here).

I never loved LMA at ude, that he had since the negotiatios for his free agency long time ago...it's highly suspect when the main goal of such a player that has never won anything is to still have his numbers, no matter what, instead that wanting a ring at all costs.
And for as much as I hate Leonard's behavior I suspect a lot has to be related to the lack of respect against our F.O. because of the fact that Pop and our F.O. decided to give LMA more than what was right to give him, starting by the role LMA wanted since his arrival in SA (being the first option and most important player at the expense of a fresh finals MVP).

All that said, after we guaranteed the entire amount of his contract (only 7 of this season instead of 24, 27 in case of use of the trade kicker) I frankly think we have no more moral obligations with such player...so no need to accomodate his will at all costs (so no buy out at all) .
If no trade is coming for something of value then better let his whole contract expire. So, at least, he can mantain some value till next season at least in a sign and trade scenario.

[cascaders]

i felt aldrige was a good player, he did his best, and sometimes happens and i guess players just gotta do what they think is best for them. And i like him a lot, and in retrospect, it makes me cherish and appreciate Tim Duncan even more for what he endure and went through and persevere in San Antonio, and became the ultimate anchor to the team. Gave our ballclub five championship. That is elite status forever.

Im gonna miss aldrige, im gonna miss his effortless jumpshots and his spin fade away shots. Wish him all the best.

[Mal]

Good luck LMA, thanks for everything

[GreekSpursfan]

Good luck to him, he was limited but he was one of the good guys

[BillMc]

Dude I get that it’s probably time for him to move on, but hope Spurs fans show respect. He had a ton of offers as a free agent, including CA teams and he chose the Spurs. He gave us some of his best years. So we couldn’t win a le with him, but we had good success so much appreciation for what he gave the Spurs. He certainly handled his business better than Kawhi.

I agree. He was the bigges FA we ever got, and gave us some really good years. I'm sad that the two best players post the Big 3 (Kawhi and LMA) eventually asked to leave the Spurs.

[szkorhetz]

What about LMA for Wiggins? I know, cap space and all, but who will we got? This FA class is ty, and I don't want anybody frtom this class.
Wiggins is overpriced, I know, but he would will a positional need, could play both Forward positions, long, athletic, young.

Even more so, LMA+DDR for Wiggins, Oubre, Looney, 1st.

[RC_Drunkford]

Damn, probably the right decision for both parties. It's just ed up that if nephew hadn't pulled that fake injury , LMA would have 1-2 rings. The guy deserves more respect from Spurs fans for being the only big time free agent EVER to sign with the Spurs

[BillMc]

He was actually good for 4 years. He played at a high level from '15-'19. His season from '17-'19 was him at his peak. So it wasn't a bad signing at all. It was actually a great signing. Spurs would have won at least 1 le in that 4 year span if Kawhi didn't go crazy and quit on the team.

This.

And those saying he's washed. He probably is, but sometimes a new environment changes things. Diaw looked washed before he came to us. 12-14 he was awesome and big part of our conteding and winning a chip.

Not saying LMA will do that elsewhere. But it has happened before.

[dbreiden83080]

Damn, probably the right decision for both parties. It's just ed up that if nephew hadn't pulled that fake injury , LMA would have 1-2 rings. The guy deserves more respect from Spurs fans for being the only big time free agent EVER to sign with the Spurs

Exactly.. He gets too much around here.. He was a 2 time AS with the Spurs and averaged 23/8 and 21/9 in those seasons. He just came in at the worst possible time.. Who could have predicted that a player in "Nephew" that seemed tailor made to be a Spur for life, would turn into a conniving snake? Even in 2016 when his stats were down, if Nephew does NOT get hurt we might be in the finals..

[ragas]

Aldridge came to the Spurs because he loved San Antonio so much?
Definitely not, he came for the money and because he hoped that Kawhi gets him a ring. He would have already left if there had been a chance. So don't ask for respect.

[ElNono]

Maybe I can watch the Spurs again... goodbye Carmelo Aldrige... can't wait to see you bring the loser at ude to some other team...

[BillMc]

Aldridge came to the Spurs because he loved San Antonio so much?
Definitely not, he came for the money and because he hoped that Kawhi gets him a ring. He would have already left if there had been a chance. So don't ask for respect.

He was in his prime, not a ring chaser. He'd have gotten the best money in Portland.

Spurs had gone out against the Cippers the year before, and Kawhi had flamed out late in that series. He came because he was from Texas and wanted to be nearer his son. That and they sold him on being the next great Spurs bigman in the Robison, Duncan vein. ANd because with much of the '14 team still around, yes, they would contend. And they did in 16 and 17. If Timmy's knee doesn't finally go in '16 or Zaza doesn't happen in '17 or Nephew doesn't abandon us in '18, team had a great chance.

[playblair]

Maybe I can watch the Spurs again... goodbye Carmelo Aldrige... can't wait to see you bring the loser at ude to some other team...

bruh elnono playblair both finally agree on something........playblaie has not watched any spurs game this season due to a boycott of lma/derozan on the team.........if both r gone playblair will reignite his spurs watching

[Ice009]

He's terrible on the defensive end but his offense will be missed. We don't have anybody outside of Demar capable of getting an easy 15-20 points a game. Like I said in previous post Spur fans don't understand how most stars are wired. They will continue to learn the hard way for years to come. Most stars don't want to sacrifice their numbers like the big 3/Dave and they will most likely find that out when the Spurs get their next star.

Yeah, you're right. As another poster mentioned, he only celebrates guys like Tim, Manu, David, Tony, but you're right about if we all expect any other potential superstars we might get or develop down the line to be the same way as those guys were. Tim, Manu and David were exceptional people, and they were a special group when they played together (I'll throw Tony in there too, but I will say, if the Spurs sucked and weren't winning, I think he would have left). Not many superstars are likely to act the way those previous Spurs legends did and sacrifice stats and money for the good of the team.

It's a bit of a reality check for myself too, as I keep wanting to bash LA, but I also have to keep being reminded that he's one of the only star players that signed here as a free agent. That was big.

I'm not real happy if the Spurs buy him out and see him go elsewhere and possibly win a ring, because I believe he still could have helped this team if he could have gotten his offensive game going. At his best, he's still better offensively than 90% of the players on the current team. The Spurs yet again waited too long to try and trade a player. Also, it's not that I don't want him to win a ring, it's more that I hate we'll likely not get a some sort of decent return for him leaving.

See I don’t like his at ude but I’m not happy that we lost his talent. Even the version we had this year still was better than nothing, but he was really over it I guess. Hoping for a decent replacement.

That a pretty great take on the way I feel too. I agree with you. I haven't been happy with his at ude at times over the years, but I am not happy we're losing his talent. He really was really darn good offensively and was a much better defender than I gave him credit for before his decline the past season. I really wish he would have come into this season with less weight. I would have loved to have seen if he could have gotten more mobile and played better in this current era if he was slimmer/carrying less weight.

No one’s trading for LMA.

Pop’s quotes after the Dallas game sound desperate. Like, he knows they’re not making the playoffs, even though things looked so rosy a couple weeks ago.

Demar actually appears to have some value. The front office needs to finally do the sensible thing and trade his ass for something worthwhile.

What kind of stuff did Pop say? Was he that dejected after the game?

[JADG79]

24M to trade is huge for any contender

The only way to trade LA is receiving bad contracts like Al Horford, Wiggins, Love, Adams, Gallinari, etc...
Boston trade exception for whatever player or a even just a 1 or 2 2nd round picks

I highly doubt a trade of Drummond for LA + 2nd round pick, Poeltl is our Defensive guy right now.

Trying to get Collins will be costly because they will want to include Gallinari awful contract and Collins wants near a Max contract.

[Ice009]

Collins ain't worth a max or near max contract. If that's what it will take to get him, let some of team overpay him. I'd rather do without.

[JADG79]

Collins ain't worth a max or near max contract. If that's what it will take to get him, let some of team overpay him. I'd rather do without.

Totally agreed, Collins is not a game changer for a Max or near max contract.

The things is what the Spurs are looking for? Players, picks, Cap Flex.

[Dejounte]

I would take Steven Adams for LA if money wasn't an issue for the Spurs. Easy guy to root for.

[Blackhaus]

Unless it’s a trade for another expiring and a late pick, I’m hoping he just gets bought out. Taking on a bad contract would be a killer especially with how much young talent we have that needs playing time. Another washed up vet that Pop wants to play favorites too would really stunt my desire to watch. Plus why would any team give up good assets when it’s likely they can get him for nothing after a buyout. I guess if they just have to have him over any other team but I don’t see his demand high at all.

[cjw]

What about LMA for Wiggins? I know, cap space and all, but who will we got? This FA class is ty, and I don't want anybody frtom this class.
Wiggins is overpriced, I know, but he would will a positional need, could play both Forward positions, long, athletic, young.

Even more so, LMA+DDR for Wiggins, Oubre, Looney, 1st.

Unless it’s the Minnesota first, the first isn’t going to be lucrative enough to take on Wiggins. Oubre is an expiring so not of much value to Spurs to take on.

Even then, if they were actually to move DDR, you can get close to that value for him without taking on Wiggins. So hard pass.

[Dverde]

I could see him being involved as filler to make a three team trade work netting Spurs a 2nd rounder or lottery protected 1st rounder. Some GMs like Morey see little value in non lottery picks

[Dejounte]

IF reports are to believed and LMA is traded, LMA is the one who holds the cards because he has a trade kicker. We essentially have to be looking at teams HE'D be interested in, so likely only teams where he would be the starter. That leaves with a few options:

Heat - word is they need a center
Celtics - would probably be traded for Tristan Thompson, so he'd take over as the starter
Pelicans - actually makes sense if they want to give Zion spacing, but I'm reading that since Adams signed an extension he can't be traded until the start of next season.
Blazers - he would start over Kanter easily

NOT the Lakers - LMA is no better than Gasol
NOT the Nets - they literally have no assets

Now if he gets bought out, then anything goes, I guess.

[hoopdreams11]

LMA for Nurkic and Jones get it done