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- Posted on: Thu, 11/12/2015 - 8:39am #61859
KingslayerParticipantWoj posted a fantastic article for Yahoo yesterday detailing all the intracacies of the Aldridge free agency process. It’s long, but a great read: sports.yahoo.com/news/five-days-in-july–inside-the-free-agent-courtship-of-lamarcus-aldridge-225556837.html
Takeaways:
- The Spurs sales concept of "one organization" perfectly embodies why they are such an amazing franchise. There is no disconnect – every player, coach, scout and front office exec is on the same page, which has worked wonders for them for over 15 years. Aldridge made the right choice by choosing to become a part of it. Who wouldn’t want to play for the Spurs?
- I hadn’t realized how impressive the Portland organization, and particularly GM Neil Olshey have been over the years. Everyone remembers Portland’s failed ascent to become the next big contender due to the career-ending injuries to Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. However Olshey oversaw the rebuild that brought Portland back to being a 50+ win team in the West again. He drafted Lillard at 6, Meyers Leonard at 11, and Will Barton at 40 in his first draft as GM in 2012, re-signed Batum, and picked McCollum in the draft a year later. The team’s core 4 of Aldridge, Batum, Matthews and Lillard all had their best years with Olshey as GM. The coaching staff of course deserves a lot of credit as well for player development. I just think Olshey is a bit of a hidden gem for the work he has done as GM. Don’t forget that he turned the Clippers from league laughinstock to contender as GM of LAC as well. He drafted DeAndre Jordan at 35, Bledsoe 17th, and traded for Chris Paul. I loved the sales pitch he made to Aldridge too, drawing on the "equity" the player and franchise had built with each other over the past 3 years. This offseason Olshey made some quality moves to immediately put the Blazers on the right path again. If not for Aldridge’s ego, there’s a good chance he’d be still be a Trail Blazer.
- Which leads to the next point… Aldridge ultimately made the best choice to go with San Antonio, but this article sure paints a picture of a bit of a primadonna. He completely dismissed good options like Portland (his home for 10 years, great front office, competitive team, extra money), and Houston (potentially great team with Harden/Howard/LA) because of his ego. He wants to be "the guy," and it seems the presence of Lillard and Harden on those teams made him squeamish. I’m sure he envisioned himself as the top player on the best franchise in the league in San Antonio, but Kawhi Leonard is already a better player than him (and the #1 scoring option on the team even with Aldridge now). I wonder how he will adapt to this, and use his considerable skill set to fit in. The Spurs won’t sacrifice the good of the team for any single player’s ego.
- Rising GM’s like Ujiri in Toronto and McDonough in Phoenix are giving these teams extra credibility around the league, but are still a ways to go to make the Raps and Suns top free agent destinations.
- Never count out Pat Riley
- Good luck Lakers, maybe next time
0 - Posted on: Thu, 11/12/2015 - 9:37am #1024277
WetalkinboutpracticeParticipantSidebar: I know you’ve had the whole Kingslayer/Kawhi handle/icon combo for a while now but I just caught the significance just now. Well played sir.
0 - Posted on: Thu, 11/12/2015 - 9:37am #1024138
WetalkinboutpracticeParticipantSidebar: I know you’ve had the whole Kingslayer/Kawhi handle/icon combo for a while now but I just caught the significance just now. Well played sir.
0 - Posted on: Thu, 11/12/2015 - 10:34am #1024289
DolanCareParticipantHonestly, I’m not sure what to make of this story and view the ‘Big-Ego Lamarcus’ premise as completely exaggerated. Lillard is a great offensive player but he NEVER overshadowed Aldridge as the number one player. No serious basketball mind thought that. Guards will always be more popular over bigs especially amongst casual fans. Furthermore, Lillard’s buzzbeater against the Rockets brought him buckets of attention from those that watch the playoffs with closed captioning at some middling pub- but Lamarcus was the undisputed number 1 talent on that team, which was particularly evident as the Grizzlies trounced them last season.
Secondly, the Spurs are a team-first organization which directly conflicts with Aldridge’s desire to be ‘the guy’. Not to mention Kawhi Leonard is a better player than Lillard.
I guess my point is that Aldridge seems like a thoughtful and intelligent dude. So I have a really hard time believing he came to San Antonio with the image that he would be the organizaiton’s undeniable star. Nor do I believe that the Spurs in anyway fed this dillusion during his visits. It just doesn’t add up.
And there’s plenty of reasons for Aldridge to not play in Houston. Yes, in terms of roster fit, Houston would have been the most impressive line-up on paper. But as Aldridge has stated in the past: coaching, team culture and the ability to win the title are important to him. With that in mind, it’s reasonable if he didn’t want to play for a Houston team that lacks of offensive discipline, instead opting for the James Harden show even when he’s being doubled… that’s not a sign of Aldridge’s ego, that’s justifiable trepidation of playing with an organization that doesn’t keep their stars in check.
Aldridge is a great player who thrives in the midrange area of the court. Wouldn’t it be understandably infuriating to play for team where the offensive philosophy is ‘Threes or Dunks’!
In San Antonio, Aldridge has the assurance that he will be fully utilized in the pursuit of a ring. And that’s what I think Aldridge ultimately wants: a championship.
0 - Posted on: Thu, 11/12/2015 - 10:34am #1024150
DolanCareParticipantHonestly, I’m not sure what to make of this story and view the ‘Big-Ego Lamarcus’ premise as completely exaggerated. Lillard is a great offensive player but he NEVER overshadowed Aldridge as the number one player. No serious basketball mind thought that. Guards will always be more popular over bigs especially amongst casual fans. Furthermore, Lillard’s buzzbeater against the Rockets brought him buckets of attention from those that watch the playoffs with closed captioning at some middling pub- but Lamarcus was the undisputed number 1 talent on that team, which was particularly evident as the Grizzlies trounced them last season.
Secondly, the Spurs are a team-first organization which directly conflicts with Aldridge’s desire to be ‘the guy’. Not to mention Kawhi Leonard is a better player than Lillard.
I guess my point is that Aldridge seems like a thoughtful and intelligent dude. So I have a really hard time believing he came to San Antonio with the image that he would be the organizaiton’s undeniable star. Nor do I believe that the Spurs in anyway fed this dillusion during his visits. It just doesn’t add up.
And there’s plenty of reasons for Aldridge to not play in Houston. Yes, in terms of roster fit, Houston would have been the most impressive line-up on paper. But as Aldridge has stated in the past: coaching, team culture and the ability to win the title are important to him. With that in mind, it’s reasonable if he didn’t want to play for a Houston team that lacks of offensive discipline, instead opting for the James Harden show even when he’s being doubled… that’s not a sign of Aldridge’s ego, that’s justifiable trepidation of playing with an organization that doesn’t keep their stars in check.
Aldridge is a great player who thrives in the midrange area of the court. Wouldn’t it be understandably infuriating to play for team where the offensive philosophy is ‘Threes or Dunks’!
In San Antonio, Aldridge has the assurance that he will be fully utilized in the pursuit of a ring. And that’s what I think Aldridge ultimately wants: a championship.
0 - Posted on: Thu, 11/12/2015 - 4:58pm #1024323
Tap892ParticipantI don’t think their is anything wrong with Aldridge wanting to be "the guy". Great players should want to be the guy. He went to a team first organization that cares more about winning than individual stats, I admire that more than just going to Houston and teaming up with harden and Howard.
0 - Posted on: Thu, 11/12/2015 - 4:58pm #1024185
Tap892ParticipantI don’t think their is anything wrong with Aldridge wanting to be "the guy". Great players should want to be the guy. He went to a team first organization that cares more about winning than individual stats, I admire that more than just going to Houston and teaming up with harden and Howard.
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