Report: LaMarcus Aldridge requested trade after 2012-13 season
It's all water under the bridge today, but a little over two years ago, LaMarcus Aldridge asked Portland Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey to shop him around the league, per Yahoo Sports/FOX Sports 1 NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski:
After the 2012-13 season, Olshey tried to honor a private request of Aldridge’s that the Blazers find out what existed for him on the trade market. Rival teams tell the story of turning down the Blazers for Aldridge in the summer of 2012 for packages that included Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Al Horford, Greg Monroe and Serge Ibaka. Three years ago, the Blazers were flatly rejected for every borderline and genuine All-Star forward in the NBA. Three years later, Aldridge had turned into the No. 1 free agent on the market. This was the case the Blazers had been making to him for over a year, framing themselves as the franchise and regime of irrefutable action with Aldridge. Everyone else, they only had promises.
Again, none of this matters, because Aldridge signed with the San Antonio Spurs a few months ago, but it's still incredibly interesting to think about.
No team was willing to trade for Aldridge? The Pistons wouldn't swap Greg Monroe? The Thunder wouldn't give up Serge Ibaka? In hindsight, this indecision is a little foolish, but everything happens for a reason, and the Spurs are happy things turned out as they did.
