The Portland Trail Blazers have a major decision coming with LaMarcus Aldridge, as the team may look to trade the star next season to a team like the Houston Rockets, NY Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Lakers or Los Angeles Clippers fi the two sides can't work out a contract extension past the 2014 season, as the star is set to be a free agent after next season.
Aldridge had a career year for the Blazers and factored into MVP voting for the first time and as his value rises, the chances of him signing an extension with the team gets smaller and smaller. Aldridge isn't necessarily going to leave Portland, but based on the way he has played and what he is getting paid and what the team can offer him, there is no reason why he wouldn't test the free agent market come next season, especially with Kevin Love possibly getting traded before that. Love makes Aldridge's decision interesting, as he could be a consolation prize if teams miss out on Love and he also could benefit of teams get into a bidding war over him.
According to ESPN.com writer Marc Stein, Aldridge is likely not signing a contract extension with the Blazers, because based on the salary cap right now and where the team is at with committed money, they can only offer him so much and he will get more on the market next year. Aldridge has been slowly growing in talent over the past couple seasons and he is coming off his best year with 23 points and 11 rebounds for his averages and those are both career highs. The Blazers want to keep him, but it will come down whether they actually can do it or not.
ESPN.com reported earlier in the year that teams like the Chicago Bulls, Clippers, Knicks and Rockets were interested in making a deal for Aldridge and those teams could be in the mix again. The Rockets are looking at a Kevin Love or Rajon Rondo deal and if those don't work out, they could look at making a Big 3 with Dwight Howard, James Harden and Aldridge. To get that deal done, the team will have to trade Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik, as both are making a ton of money next year and they are coming into the final years of their contracts as well. Aldridge has over $16 million left on his deal for next season and even with the cap rising, there is only so much he can make from the team in an extension.
Aldridge is turning 29 over the summer and with him nearing 30 he will be looking to lock in a long contract and teams like the Knicks and others may have enough money by that point to make it enticing. Stephen A. Smith reported that the Knicks had the chance to trade for Aldridge last season and they did not pull off the deal and they also had chances at getting Rajon Rondo and Kyle Lowry and now the team could look to add Aldridge again after messing it up the first time.
