Dreaming of a LaMarcus Aldridge Return to the Portland Trail Blazers After His Career Night

LaMarcus Aldridge scored a career-high 56 points last night. Is a return to the Portland Trail Blazers possible?

Former Portland Trail Blazers star LaMarcus Aldridge had a career night last night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. LA had a career high 56 points on 20-33 shooting and 16-16 from the free throw line.

With DeMar DeRozan struggling, he was pretty much the entire Spurs offense in the fourth quarter and in the overtime periods. His great offensive performance combined with 9 rebounds and 4 blocks added up to a pretty good night for LA.

This impressive performance had my mouth watering dreaming of an Aldridge return to Rip City. About this time last year there were some rumors going around about the Spurs possibly trading LA and now after tonight, it has me wondering if the Spurs would still consider trading him for the right package, which I will get to later. But first, let’s talk about how LA can help the Blazers right now.

Aldridge isn’t a guy who is going to wow you with his athleticism or be an anchor down low defensively, but he still could help the Blazers tremendously. He has a very methodical and fundamental style of play and a great midrange jumper, and while this might not be the most exciting style of play to watch at times, it is very effective (as displayed against OKC).

With the Blazers he could be a legitimate, consistent second option on the offensive end which would take a lot of pressure off of CJ McCollum. A lot of people think CJ would be better off as a third option and this would immediately make CJ one of the best third options in the league and hopefully, this would fix some of his inconsistencies.

Another benefit of Aldridge is that he can play center or power forward. So if a move could be worked out where the Blazers could keep Jusuf Nurkic. Aldridge could play alongside Nurk at times and then also move into the center position and allow Nurk to play with the second unit. Nurk has been on fire lately as a starter, so just think of what he could do as the focal point of the second unit. All in all, this would give the Blazers a pretty stacked lineup. Now as you read this it probably seems like nothing but a pipe dream, but it may not be as crazy as you might think though. Let’s take a look:

I don’t know that there is a realistic straight across trade with the Blazers and Spurs, but when you throw in a third team that’s when things get interesting. Recently there have been rumors that the Spurs are ‘significantly interested’ in Kristaps Porzingis in free agency this summer. Could they be interested in getting a jump start on Porzingis and getting him in a trade? Would they let go of Aldridge this year if they could get Porzingis in return? And what does this have to do with the Blazers, you might be asking? Here is a trade I cooked up on the NBA Trade Machine:

This probably won’t happen, but here is why it could  happen:

The Blazers get the return of a franchise favorite in LaMarcus Aldridge to help propel them into legitimate Finals contention in the West. Adds a great second scoring option and reunites the duo of Damian Lillard and Aldridge as well as creating a very solid foursome of Dame, CJ, Nurk, and Aldridge.

The Spurs get a jump start on signing Porzingis. They could immediately work on signing him to an extension. This would also sneakily improve their guard rotation. They have been getting a lot out of Bryan Forbes and Derrick White, but Tim Hardaway Jr and Evan Turner could be a solid upgrade.

The Knicks get rid of a bad contract without having to give up a draft pick. They may not want to give up Porzingis, but with him being a flight risk this summer they would probably rather give up Porzingis than a draft pick. They would not only create cap space, but they would receive a second first rounder to pair with a lottery selection that could turn into RJ Barrett or Zion Williamson. Then they would also have room to shoot their shot at Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency this summer.

Again, as mentioned earlier, this is very wishful thinking but it is possible and kind of makes a lot of sense. And before I wrap this thing up I wanted to give another big congratulations to LaMarcus Aldridge on his career night. Here’s to hoping we can see him in a Blazers uniform again someday!