The San Antonio encourages part with LaMarcus Aldridge for one very simple reason: it doesn’t help them win basketball games. The Spurs are 8.7 points per 100 possessions worse with him on the ground. He only scores 13.7 points per game, the fewest he has posted since his rookie season. His 4.5 rebounds per game are a career low. At 35, he lost too much physically to defend himself effectively in space. Most impact metrics show that Aldridge is a negative player at this point in his career.
But one team’s trash is another team’s treasure. Time and again we have seen declining veterans land on the right competitor and contribute to victory. The Lakers required Dwight Howard win last season’s championship. Brooklyn is hoping for similar success with Blake Griffin this season. Whether it’s a trade or a buyout, a team is going to give Aldridge the chance to change things this season. Here are five suitable candidates for doing so.
You knew it was coming. Aldridge and former teammate Damian Lillard have played Social Media Footsie on this subject for quite some time. Portland was so exhausted from injuries in the run-up that Aldridge was able to play critical minutes by then Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins Return. There is no more comfortable destination for Aldridge. Rodney Hood and his 2021-22 non-guaranteed salary could form the basis for the salary filler. From then on it becomes more difficult The edges is the next most likely piece involved in such a deal but is currently starting with Nurkic for the Blazers. Aldridge has a cap of $ 24 million this season. Raising the money would not be easy for the blazers.
There is also the question of fit. Aldridge and Carmelo Anthony have very similar shot profiles. Do the Blazers really need two middle-range gunners with inconsistent touch behind the arc? Could their defense support them both? The answer to both is probably no. The blazers have bigger needs than Aldridge, and should have their salary and capital design geared towards them. But the Anthony signature is instructive here. Portland added him last season to seek out sheer talent and it largely paid off. Bringing in another former star could have a similar effect if used properly. A buyout would make that reunion more likely, but even if the Spurs insist on a trade, the Blazers are a team to watch in the Aldridge Sweepstakes.
The Heat followed Aldridge as a freelance agency in 2015. They haunt almost every big name that comes out on the market. The question they have to answer about Aldridge is how important this brand is to them because they are currently Kelly Olynyk plays a similar role to Aldridge in Miami and plays it on a higher level. Olynyk rarely takes the midfielders Aldridge made a living from. Few Heat roleplayers do this. But he’s done over 67 percent of his 2-point attempts overall this season, and while his 3-point percentage was slightly disappointing, he’s about a 37 percent 3-point shooter of his career. In that regard, he will be fine. He’s defending and is now bouncing off at a higher level than Aldridge.
Aldridge has the higher ceiling, and the heat might believe their infrastructure can help him get back to it. Olynyk is probably the superior player at the moment. Miami will have to decide which it would prefer, as Olynyk’s expiring contract would likely form the basis for its offer for Aldridge. A month ago, this may have been an easier decision. The heat fought. Now they are back on track and are looking closer at the team that achieved that NBA Final last season. Do you want to mess with what you already have for a 35 year old who is clearly in decline? We’ll find out soon enough. The Heat has the salaries to get an Aldridge up and running. The question is whether or not they have the motivation.
Boston makes this list for a reason: Along with Oklahoma City, it’s one of only two teams that can afford to directly absorb Aldridge. The Celtics have a $ 28.5 million trading exemption from the Gordon Hayward Sign-and-trade with Charlotte and could theoretically use that exception to get Aldridge without sending a dime back to the Spurs. Given the difficulty other applicants at Aldridge’s high salary will face, every contender in this position deserves a mention.
But will the Celtics actually hunt Aldridge? It’s unlikely, at least as a first choice. Boston had a chance to acquire Myles Turner in exchange for Hayward and declined the opportunity. Turner is younger, cheaper, and better than Aldridge. This suggests that even before Boston lost to Hayward Hornetswasn’t particularly interested in turning him into a great man. A 35-year-old tall man would be much less desirable for a team whose two best players haven’t even seen their 25th birthday.
Boston will scour the retail market for younger, smaller players who make more sense on the side Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Harrison Barnes and Jerami Grant stand out as destinations that Boston is supposedly interested in. If they make it big, someone a little younger than the 30-year-old Nikola Vucevicwould make more sense. But Boston is one of the few teams that can acquire Aldridge relatively painlessly. If all else fails, they may see Aldridge as something similar to their Plan G or Plan H if all of the Plans AF fail.
4. Los Angeles Lakers
We hit the buyouts only portion of that list because the Lakers simply don’t have the salary to buy Aldridge, especially under the hard cap terms. Rob Pelinka’s interest in strengthening the front was no longer a secret Anthony Davis was injured. The Lakers are supposedly interested in the Andre Drummond and Hassan Whiteside. You have now signed Damian Jones to several 10-day contracts. DeMarcus cousins was even the subject of rumors.
Aldridge is not a traditional center like these players, but it could have some other function as a ground spacer. The Lakers are 25th in 3-point attempts and 24th in 3-point percentages. Aldridge shot almost 39 percent on 3-pointers last season. If he devoted himself to converting those inefficient midfielders into 3-point jumpers, he could be playing meaningful bench minutes for a Lakers team that is always fighting for a goal Lebron James leaves the game. Aldridge met with the Lakers twice in 2015 before signing in San Antonio. The Spurs showed a clearer path to a championship at the time. Those roles were reversed in 2021, however, and if winning is Aldridge’s ultimate goal, he would have a hard time finding a better destination than Los Angeles.
Warriors trainer Steve Kerr, another buyout only target, has always praised Aldridge. Golden State was reportedly interested in Blake Griffin before landing in Brooklyn, and Aldridge was able to take on a similar role with the Warriors. The offense of the Golden State always falls off a cliff Stephen Curry leaves the game. In theory, Aldridge could get decent shots for banking units that haven’t been able to do so at all this season. It would be a bonus if he added an extra shot of overall shooting to a roster that was tacitly lacking.
The warriors have a slight financial advantage over the buyout area as the taxpayer has a mid-level exception. The question is whether or not Aldridge will see to it that the money comes out of three heavy contracts. Is he trying to maximize his income? If so, the Warriors make sense, both in terms of what they can offer him right now and in terms of how he could potentially add his market value to a team that could give him lots of shots. If the only goal is to win the championship now? The warriors are likely to be out of luck.
