Sorry if it has been posted somewhere else. Something to get us through the day, except ing like a five year old girl about Parker & Leonard all day.
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...rcus-aldridge/
LaMarcus Aldridge is one of the more high-profile players who will hit the market as an unrestricted free agent this summer, and reports continue to emerge that he may be one of the few max guys who would actually consider bolting his current situation on order to play somewhere else.
One said Aldridge was more likely to leave than people realize, while another quoted an anonymous teammate in estimating the chances of him returning to Portland are 50-50, at best.
If Aldridge does look around to see where the grass might be greener, he’d be hard-pressed to find a more appealing option than the one which may be available to him in San Antonio with the Spurs.
From Zach Lowe of Grantland:
The Spurs accepted that risk because waiting to bump up Leonard’s salary gives them the chance to dangle max cap space in front of Marc Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge this summer. Neither is a good bet to leave his current team, but sources around the league have been saying for weeks that the Spurs might get a hearing with Aldridge — and that was before the Oregonian reported that at least one Blazers player thinks there is only a 50-50 chance that Aldridge stays in Portland.Marc Gasol has similarly been linked to the Spurs, but his connection to Memphis seems strong enough to where his leaving in free agency seems like a long shot.
(And no, I wouldn’t take that as gospel, either. Aldridge said before the season that he wants to be the greatest Blazer ever.)
With Aldridge, though, the rumblings are probably there for a reason. We won’t know exactly how serious things are until Portland’s season has come to a close, but you’d have to believe a first-round playoff exit at the hands of Gasol’s Grizzlies would have him ready to, at the very least, strongly consider his options.
Of those two, LA has to be the one most likely to leave especially if the Blazers get bounced early. Not a huge fan personally, but obviously he's good and would keep the team in contention until Tony starts to meaningfully slow down.
Gasol won't go, but I'm very interested to see what Lopez does this summer.
can you imagine the back to back NBA champs bringing back Kiwi, Verde and adding LA? Cancel Christmas (plus Timmy returning with a team friendly deal), getting him would make people forget about TSpense and missing out on Pau.
Just say no to LMA. Gasol is a much better option.
LMA is a better fit next to Splitter...he's an excellent mid-range shooter and has even shown signs of developing a 3-point shot this year. He's also a few years younger than Gasol IIRC.
I really don't see any way Gasol leaves Memphis. LMA is a somewhat realistic (albeit still a long shot) option, since apparently he wants to get back to Texas so he can be closer to family.
Gasol's not coming to SA though. Aldridge probably isn't either, but if you're playing the odds game, we'd have a much better chance at luring Aldridge.
Aldridge
I'd take LA over marc tbh. It's what the team needs.
spurs fans still thinking they'll land a big named free agent
Aldridge is pretty overrated and soft, but it's San Antonio, if you can get a talent like that, you take him, tbh..
He's a good character guy and he plays team ball, too..he's also a competent defender, not great, but far from a liability..
It's not like he's a cancerous player that you're taking a chance on like a Monta Ellis..
I don't like aldridge..But maybe the perfect space provider alongside Kawhi..I don't know.
If it's rumored that he's coming then we can forget it
More importantly, he has discussed working on a 3-point shot for the past 2 seasons, and he's been taking them more frequently IIRC..on a podcast I heard during the off-season, he said that was his main priority going forward, expanding his shot to the 3-point line..
The Spurs have the best shooting coach in the league, perfect opportunity to open a new door for Aldridge, and potentially prolong his effectiveness..
Throw money at someone else, LMA isn't worth the coin.
100 pages incoming.
Waiting for Tspence to confirm SA's interest.
LMA will never be truly great until he develops an inside game. Going out further and further just exposes his weaknesses even more. But I guess if you get paid max money, it doesn't really matter what you do.
Allot here seem to think every NBA player outside of the Spurs are scrubs. The dude is an All-Star if you have a chance at getting him you go try to get him. I agree that Gasol would be nice but he isn't leaving Memphis, both he and the team seem to want to stay.
He would be good next to Splitter but I'm worried that Splitter's injuries aren't limited to just this season...
Chime the typical "Spurs never get any free agents", with people forgetting they never have cap space and have a pretty deep roster (read: not as many minutes to go around).
Lowe laid it out on Grantland today, but Spurs would have around $15 million including Green's QO. By renouncing CoJo, I get to $18 million which is still only 27.3% of the projected cap of $67.1mm. Both guys would be en led to deals worth 30% of the cap, so would need to take a $3 million discount on year 1 salary. That's what makes this scenario unlikely.
While I'd love LMA or Gasol, I'm fine getting the next tier of guys on good deals if they avail themselves. The team would be pretty barren if using cap space to sign a big FA and would have to go with minimum salaries etc. to fill out the roster. If Duncan or Ginobili come back (I think Manu does as he'll go out post-Olympics), cap space is probably in the $8 million range assuming VERY team friendly deals, so not even much more than the MLE.
Player 2015/16 # Notes Parker 13,438 1 Splitter 8,500 2 Diaw 7,500 3 Mills 3,200 4 Leonard 4,269 5 Joseph 3,202 6 Anderson 1,143 7 Subtotal 41,251 First round pick 992 8 Renounce Joseph (3,202) 7 Green cap hold 7,648 8 (190% of prior year) Minimum salary holds 2,100 12 (4 players @ $525k - 13th player would be theoretical FA) Subtotal 48,788 Projected Cap 67,100 Cap space 18,312 % of cap 27.3%
Adding to prior post, the team might be best served keeping the house in order next year and even with Kawhi under a max contract ($18mm in 2016-17) and Green at $8-$10mm per year, they would have $24-$26mm of cap space that season. Can really fill out a nice roster with that amount of money, plus may be able to bring some of the prospects over if they're ever healthy and materialize. The FO knows these different iterations much better than any of us.
Only player the Spurs should max, tbh..
I'd much rather have Duncan return for another year.
Would Tim be cool with playing Center?
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