Aldridge is returning home to Texas to join San Antonio!
Very rare does Gregg Popovich or even the San Antonio Spurs court free agents around the NBA; but with the end of an era of the big three nearing for Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili and Tony Parker, the NBA’s most respected franchise had no choice. Fitting the mold and mindset of the San Antonio mindset of allowing play to speak for itself, Popovich and company quickly pursued a possibility of Aldridge returning to his home state of Texas, through two dinners. Nearly every NBA team was calling the most-overlooked player from around the league.
The biggest selling point, was the 39-year-old Duncan willingly to pass the torch (whenever he decides to retire) and Pop saying it’s his team to continue their dynasty after that historic event happens. San Antonio is fresh from giving Kawhi Leonard a 5-year maximum deal just a few days ago, and still have $26 million in cap space to properly reboot the franchise. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported the news first, but Aldridge quickly took to Instagram to announce his signing, which the new deal is reportedly 4-years on $80 million.
The Spurs still lack a center, after trading away Tiago Splitter to their Atlanta Hawks cohorts and will definitely need to hit the open market to find a replacement soon. At the present, Duncan is likely to start at the center, which is something Aldridge is not fond of and surprisingly almost chose the Phoenix Suns – who had just quietly stolen Tyson Chandler away from the Dallas Mavericks earlier this week. Approaching the age of 30, Aldridge leaves behind nine years with the Portland Trail Blazers, who made it out the first round just one time in his tenure there. With various injuries from Brandon Roy and Greg Oden hindering the team’s progression throughout his fist 7 years, he’ll be looking to finally hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy down the line.
I'm happy to say I'm going home to Texas and will be a Spur!! I'm excited to join the team and be close to my family and friends.
— Lamarcus Aldridge (@aldridge_12) July 4, 2015
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