Expect the San Antonio Spurs to shop power forward Lamarcus Aldridge next season. The 30-year old Aldridge has two years remaining on his current deal with a player’s option coming in 2018.
After an All-Star campaign in his first season with the Spurs, Aldridge took a step back statistically during the regular season as he averaged 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, which is below his career averages of 19 ppg and 8.3 rpg.
Frustrations Leads to Trade
What’s more disappointing about Aldridge’s second season with the Spurs is his inability to support All-Star swingman, Kawhi Leonard.
The former Texas standout is just contributing 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds in 34 minutes per game, while shooting 43 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free-throw line this postseason.
Kirk Bohls of the Toronto Stars thinks Aldridge is looking more and more like a bad fit in each Spurs game he plays. He pointed out the star’s ineffectiveness in Game 1 loss to the Houston Rockets, where he scored just 4 points on 2-for-7 shooting. LaMarcus put up solid numbers (15 points and nine boards) in Game 2, but that won’t erase the fact that he has been virtually non-existing in the playoffs, as Leonard continues to carry the heavier load.
Bohls speculates the Spurs might be starting to doubt Aldridge as one of the cornerstones of a championship-winning team.
Perhaps, the Spurs are already looking for trade partners for their underperforming max-level player, especially now that Tony Parker is no longer the speedster he used to be.
”Maybe the Spurs have their doubts about the high-priced free agent they coaxed out of Portland. Who knows, maybe they’ll seek to move him, trade him for a point guard like the Clippers’ Chris Paul or add another scorer.
With Tony Parker aging, the franchise could dearly use a proven successor before Dejounte Murray is ready to take over the reins.”
Tony Parker injury update
Speaking of the veteran point guard, it was announced that Parker would miss the rest of the playoffs with a ruptured left quadriceps tendon. The French playmaker was one of the main cogs for the Spurs’ playoff campaign, putting up 15.6 points on 56 percent FG shooting.
In the first two games against the Rockets, Parker averaged 14.5 points with 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He was instrumental in the Spurs’ series-tying win over the Rockets last Wednesday as he scored 18 markers on 8-for-13 shooting. Parker suffered the injury after his left foot landed awkwardly following a floater attempt in the 4th quarter. Rookie guard Dejounte Murray is expected to fill in the minutes at point guard spot for the Spurs.
