LaMarcus Aldridge and the San Antonio Spurs are a weird pairing.
First it seems like he’s unhappy. He didn’t show up in the Western Conference Finals after Kawhi Leonard went down, and his name was bandied about the trade rumor mill over the offseason. So, naturally, the summer ended with the Spurs giving him a three-year, $72.3 million extension.
Again: weird.
Still, the agreement does suggest Aldridge and the Spurs are on the same page. More specifically, he’s now on the same wavelength as head coach Gregg Popovich, who is, per ESPN.com’s Michael C. Wright, taking a bulk of the blame for his star’s unhappiness over the past two seasons:
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich explains here how he made the mistake of trying to change LaMarcus Aldridge as a player when the power forward first arrived in San Antonio: “I did talk with him several times during the summer. He just didn’t feel comfortable. It’s 98.75 percent on me, and whatever’s left – because I can’t subtract that much – on him. But I tried to change him. I thought back to when Timmy [Duncan] came, and people said, ‘What are you going to do with Tim Duncan?’ I said, ‘Nothing. I’m just going to watch him for about six months, see what he does. He’s a pretty good player, and if there’s something I think I can add, then I’ll do it.’ With LaMarcus, he got here and on Day 1, I said, ‘OK, you’re going to do this, and you’re going to do this pump fake.’ I tried to change him. I tried to make him a different player, and I think that really affected his ability to feel comfortable and confident on the court. And we took care of that, basically by me letting him know that we were going to do it differently, and that it was on me, not him.”
Well, um, alrighty then.
All of this is great. Really, it is. The Spurs and Aldridge haven’t been in a better spot since joining forces in 2015. But we have to see whether the good vibes last.
Will Aldridge be okay playing more center? Can the Spurs keep him on the floor against smaller, switchier lineups even if he is open to playing the 5? Will they be able to keep him amply involved on the offensive end once Kawhi Leonard returns from his quad injury? And in the meantime, can Aldridge be the offensive focal point without Leonard?
Things appear to be peachy keen now, but the Spurs and Aldridge still have to prove they’re good for one another, as opposed to just conveniently paired up.
