The Portland Trail Blazers are playing some great ball and one of the main reasons is because of how well LaMarcus Aldridge has performed this season and while a trade looks like it's out of the question, the issue has come up over the past year and as the deadline gets closer, could the Trail Blazers deal him for names like Spencer Hawes, Lance Stephenson, Andre Miller, Ronny Turiaf or Omer Asik?
The Blazers have been in the top part of the west all season after the way Aldridge and Damian Lillard have played and now both are in the All-Star game and Aldridge's value may never be higher. The team appears to want to keep him long term, but just a few months ago that seemed impossible, as ESPN.com reported that Aldridge asked for a trade and that the Blazers were exploring options with other teams like the Bulls, Lakers, Timberwolves and Clippers. At the time some proposed deals included for Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and Luol Deng, but at the time all of those were rebuffed.
Now the Blazers are in great playoff position and while it seems crazy to trade Aldridge, if the team feels it can build for the future and he is not in their plans, it could be the best move, Stephenson would add some offense to the team and he could be like a James Harden move, where he finally gets the attention he deserves and the ball more and he could develop into a star for the team and if not, his contract is coming up and that would take it off the books.
Hawes has been a name that has come up quite a bit and he is young and could be an option for a deal since the Sixers are rebuilding, while Turiaf could be a nice option to add simply for depth heading into the second half of the season. Turiaf is not getting playing time in Minnesota and that could be a move to explore, while Andre Miller is interesting as well, as he was with the team could provide some veteran leadership behind Lillard and the Denver Nuggets appear motivated to move him as well.
Aldridge is averaging 24 points and 11 rebounds per game and is having a great season and so are the Blazers, but sometimes the craziest move is the best move to make and it will be interesting to see how Portland and the front office handle the trading deadline this year. The team comes in at 33-13 to the week after losing to the Memphis Grizzlies and while Aldridge had a fantastic game of 27 points and 16 rebounds, the team couldn't get things done and now they have two All-Star reserves and the Houston Rockets were the only team to also get that and it say a ton about what the Blazers have done this season. Lillard looks like he is a key for the future and with the way Aldridge is playing, it would be tough to deal him.
