FanPost

More Aldridge News; Splitter on the Block

Preface: Just as I was set to publish this, I checked the site to see that the LaMarcus Aldridge report had finally been posted. I'm going to go ahead and include this since it includes other reports that were not in the main article.

I personally do not believe that Aldridge will ever wear a Spurs uniform, but I also thought LeBron James would never leave Cleveland, or return to Cleveland, or that Golden State would win the title this year, so my recent track record is hovering around the Mendoza line. Much to my surprise, there have been more and more reports over the last 24 hours pointing towards Aldridge's exit in Portland, and he has to land somewhere, right?

Here's a highlight of some of the more interesting recent tweets:

The Stein article is an interesting read. Yesterday, Portland made a confusing trade sending Nicolas Batum to Charlotte for shooting guard Gerald Henderson and stretch four Noah Vonleh, a recent lottery pick coming off of a sparsely-played rookie season. The deal has been interpreted ambiguously by Portland fans; some say it's an indication that the team is moving on from Aldridge while others think there's another trade on the horizon that will bring about more context to the Batum deal and the overall future of the franchise.

Stein claims that Aldridge has essentially moved on and appears headed to one of three teams: the Spurs, Lakers or Mavs. The report says that the Mavs have moved down Aldridge's wish list, while the Lakers, once an unlikely darkhorse, are now a real possibility. Stein also lists the Cavs as a longshot, while also reporting that the Rockets are attempting to create enough cap space to acquire either Aldridge or Kevin Love.

But the big surprise here, as worded by Stein, is that the Spurs "continue to be Aldridge's most likely destination [emphasis mine]." Yup. I had to re-read it just to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. (I really did.) In the article, Stein lists multiple sources telling him that the Spurs are the current favorite. However, we all know the Spurs have a spotty weak essentially non-existent track record when it comes to landing star good decent any outside free agent(s) in their prime.

The Spurs will be tough to beat? Tough to beat? (Internal dialogue: "Should I get my hopes up? Don't get your hopes up. You know how these always end. Don't do—too late. My hopes are up.")

This could be the Spurs' biggest selling point; something that hasn't really been much of a factor in recent free agent targets for the Spurs. Duncan's late season success has been one of the greatest, oddest things in Spurs history. Someone like Aldridge, who is soon-to-be 30, could see playing in the Spurs' system (carefully worded since Popovich might be retired to his wine cellar/barcalounger soon) not only as his best bet to win a title or titles, but to have a long, prosperous career well into his late 30s.

The Express-News article about Splitter mentions that the Spurs have made it known that he's available, but that interest around the league for the Brazilian Beast has been "tepid." This isn't much of a surprise considering Splitter's salary and the fact that he's coming off an underwhelming season including a disappointing, injury-plagued playoff stint.

(As an aside, there's also a report that the Spurs have shown interest in Russian post Sasha Kaun, whom the Cavs own the rights to, who has made a name for himself as a solid inside player for CSKA Moscow in the Euros after having an under the radar run at Kansas. Kaun would likely be a cheaper replacement for Aron Baynes, although his game more closely resembles that of Splitter. Kaun's a quality man-to-man defender who struggles to rebound the ball—much worse than Splitter—and he certainly doesn't have Splitter's passing ability. At the very least, he would make for a fine backup to Splitter. But, I would love for this guy to end up a Spur mostly because we'll get to do the [name redacted]-inspired "KAAAHN" when Sasha Kaun "pulls a David Kahn.")

Of course, no one has ever really been able to successfully predict what the Spurs were going to do before they did it. Popovich's postseason quote that next year's team will "probably look significantly different" seems to be the only concrete evidence that the Spurs are looking to make big changes. Of course, it's just as likely that we're the ones "being punked" and that next year's team will look near identical to the 2014-15 version—which, in my opinion, isn't such a bad thing.

This is fan-created content on PoundingtheRock.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff at Pounding the Rock.