NBA

NBA AM: Aldridge Details His Free Agency Process

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Blazers big man Meyers Leonard discusses Portland’s offseason, where the team goes from here and much more in this interview with Basketball Insiders.

Aldridge Details His Free Agency Process

One of the questions surrounding the San Antonio Spurs in recent years, outside of how long can Tim Duncan play at an elite level, was how would the team look when the current core group eventually retires? Sure, Kawhi Leonard is an emerging star, but the team also needed another dominant force in the lineup beside him.

Enter All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge.

The Spurs persuaded Aldridge to depart Portland in free agency this summer, which immediately put the franchise back into title contention coming off of a first-round playoff elimination.

Outside of four-time league MVP LeBron James (who was viewed as a lock to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers), Aldridge was arguably the best free agent on the market this summer and the veteran forward recently opened up about how teams pursued him and what his free agency process was like.

โ€œWell, the meetings are interesting because it is everybodyโ€™s pitch on how they can use you,โ€ Aldridge told The Russillo Show on ESPN Radio earlier this week. โ€œItโ€™s everybodyโ€™s view on what you can be for their franchise and for their city. The meetings are interesting because I think everyone sees you a different way. Itโ€™s nice to hear different ideas.โ€

It came as no surprise the rebuilding Los Angeles Lakers were one of the suitors knocking at his door. The Lakers surprised many during the 2015 NBA Draft by selecting promising guard Dโ€™Angelo Russell with the No. 2 overall pick despite talented big man Jahlil Okafor still being on the board.

The thought was Los Angeles, with Russell in the fold, would then turn its focus to bringing in a talented big man in free agency with guys like Aldridge, Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe available. Ultimately, the Lakers would secure two meetings with Aldridge, but they were unable to finalize a deal with the All-Star.

With rumors running rampant about the initial meeting going astray, Aldridge decided to clear the air.

โ€œWith the Lakers, it wasnโ€™t anything crazy,โ€ Aldridge said. โ€œIt was just the [first] meeting didnโ€™t go as well as I wanted it to, so I did another one. ย People blew it out of proportion about things happening in the meeting. That wasnโ€™t correct. It just didnโ€™t go as good as I wanted it to so I had one more.โ€

Another storied franchise in the midst of a rebuilding project but in the market for elite talent with the necessary money to spend was the New York Knicks. However, the two parties never met because of different philosophies upfront.

โ€œAbout the New York Knicks, they told me that they wanted me to play strictly [center],โ€ Aldridge said. โ€œSo they didnโ€™t want to meet with me. People was saying it was me, but it was both parties agreeing that we shouldnโ€™t meet.โ€

Aldridge eventually decided to join San Antonio, who have become known in recent years not only for unselfish basketball but also for extending their playersโ€™ physical primes. Aldridge says the Spurs mentioned the possibility of providing him more rest throughout the season to preserve him, but he also feels heโ€™ll still play quality minutes moving forward.

โ€œIt was open dialogue,โ€ Aldridge say of his meeting with Spurs officials. โ€œ[Gregg Popovich] kind of told me what he was thinking and I kind of said how I felt about it. But Iโ€™m going to play as Iโ€™ve played in most of my other games.

โ€œItโ€™s not going to be any different than Portland as far as minutes because I just turned 30. So for them, Iโ€™m really young. Compared to Tim and Manu [Ginobili], Iโ€™m really young. So heโ€™s going to try and manage my minutes, but Iโ€™m still going to play a lot.โ€

Aldridge also put to rest any rumors about friction between him and All-Star guard Damian Lillard leading to his departure.

“We got along very well during the season,โ€ Aldridge said. โ€œI thought we played well off of each other. So, all of that stuff is just rumors that I’ve dealt with before. Me leaving had nothing to do with any of that. It was just me feeling like being close to home, by my family, being able to see them more and just a change of scenery. I had been in Portland for nine years. I had been through a couple of rebuilds, so it was just time to try something new. It wasn’t anything toward Damian or the organization.”

Aldridge, a four-time All-Star, averaged 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game last season in 71 appearances with Portland.

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Jeff Hawkins
Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins
Author photo
Jeff Hawkins Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins