The Portland Trail Blazers continue to make their way through the Western Conference as several players are putting up All-Star numbers midway through the year. LaMarcus Aldridge, Damien Lillard and Nicolas Batum have created the West Coast version of the Big 3 and intend to keep it that way for years to come.
A lot has been made over Aldridge's relationship with the Portland Trail Blazers, but winning cures all and now the star is looking to remain with the team for years to come. After requesting a trade at one point prior to the 2013-14 starting, Alridge is expressing his desire to sign a long-term deal and the Blazers say there is mutual interest in making that happen.
"I talked to Neil about those things. As you guys know, at the appropriate time we'll consider all those options. That's usually when it's time to look at an extension -- after the season is over," owner Paul Allen said, via BlazersEdge.com.
Aldridge is not hiding the fact that he was very unhappy with the team before the season began. He felt like the Trail Blazers gave up last season which is technically true considering they ended with a 13-game losing streak and a 33-49 record. Entering the final year of his $16 million season, many assumed a trde could possibly happen, but now Aldridge has no intentions of leaving any time soon.
"Neil (Olshey, Blazers GM) and I talked all summer," Aldridge said, via the Portland Tribune. "I was unhappy with what happened last season. He said, 'I know you want to win now. We're not going to rebuild. We're going to bring in some guys to win now.' We went back and forth. He said, 'Let me bring in some guys to help you.' And that's what happened." "I would like to re-sign here. If they want to talk about it, I would talk about it. They haven't yet, but I'm looking forward to the chance to do that."
On top of keeping Aldridge, both Lillard and Batum are looking for long-term deals as well. Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, all three players hope to remain together for many years and have discussed long-term contracts in Portland. The Trail Blazers really lucked into their own version of the Big 3 considering they were not in the market to sign a player like LeBron James or Chris Bosh, but they have no intentions of breaking up what is working right now.