LaMarcus Aldridge is the next player behind Kevin Love being mentioned in trade rumors, as his contract will be up after next season with the Portland Trail Blazers and without an extension, teams like the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, LA Clippers, NY Knicks and Houston Rockets could be in play for his services.
Aldridge is coming off his best season in the NBA and he also factored into the MVP race and that is another reason why it is unlikely he signs an extension. According to Pro basketball Talk, Aldridge is setting himself up for a max contract and with the salary cap situation what it is for the Blazers, it makes no sense for him to sign because they can only offer him a certain amount of money right now and he is poised to make more on the open market. Aldridge is getting into Kevin Love, Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony territory here, as he is coming into the last year of his contract and could get traded rather than leave his team for nothing.
The Celtics are in on Kevin Love and Aldridge could be a backup option for them, while the Bulls, Clippers and Knicks were mentioned last year as potential destinations for Aldridge. During the playoffs Aldridge had a breakout run with back to back 40 point games and now he will be looking to cash in for the future and he could be getting a max contract come next year and if Kevin Love makes it to free agency it will be interesting to see who gets what and from whom.
Teams that miss out on Kevin Love or Carmelo Anthony could look at Aldridge and if Anthony leaves for the Bulls or Rockets, the Knicks could try to pull a move, but that is unlikely with the money issues they have. The Bulls are in on the Kevin Love trade rumors and on Anthony, but they too may miss out on both and that could lead to something involving Aldridge. Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose would fit in nice with Aldridge and the Bulls are looking to get rid of Carlos Boozer and that is the only way they can afford to make one of these bigger moves.
The Trail Blazers defied many expectations this season and went to the playoffs and they upset the Houston Rockets despite not having home court advantage and now they are looking to keep their core together. The team knows it has a budding superstar in Damian Lillard and that is another reason why keeping Aldridge will be hard. Next season Aldridge is making $16 million and he could put himself in position to sign a mega deal since he is still under 30 and that could be a big move for him. The Blazers won a playoff series for the first time in a decade, but keeping Aldridge and Lillard could be very difficult in the salary cap era. The Blazers did not advance to the second round in the playoffs for many years and now Aldridge could be on his way out if the two sides can't come to an extension.
