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Aldridge: I Was Clueless to Being Randolph’s Successor
All in all, (Memphis Grizzlies Zach) Randolph remembered, they intended for this player to one day assume the mantle as the next dominant Trail Blazers power forward, a role Randolph then occupied, that had been handed down from (Rasheed) Wallace before him. LaMarcus Aldridge would extend a proud lineage. He was “up next.”
“Um, I’m glad Zach knew, because when I was drafted, all I heard was, ‘He’s a project, he’s soft,'” Aldridge said this week, as his Trail Blazers trail Randolph’s Grizzlies 2-0 in a Western Conference first-round series that resumes Saturday at Portland’s Moda Center. “And I didn’t play [that first year]. I was in and out of the lineup. So I’m glad Zach knew, because I definitely didn’t know.”
Aldridge said he’d love it if the story was a simple one — Randolph and the team welcomed him with open arms, preparing him for his destined role as the franchise’s prized post player. “I wish I could say that,” Aldridge said. “I want to give you that story so bad. But I’m trying to tell you, they did not believe in me in the beginning. I was a ‘project.'”
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