Damian Lillard says he would add LaMarcus Aldridge to current Blazers in Twitter Q&A

During a Twitter Q&A, one fan asked Damian Lillard who he would add to this current Blazers roster if he could. His answer? LaMarcus Aldridge.

It’s been over two months since we last saw Damian Lillard step foot on the hardwood. Even so, he’s still been the talk of the town in Portland. Along with NBC Sports Northwest replaying the legendary Game Five against Oklahoma City a season ago, the five-time All-Star guard also took over the reins of the Portland Trail Blazers‘ Twitter page for a fun Q&A run with fans yesterday evening.

The session went about as expected. Lillard took on takes about his childhood inspiration (Allen Iverson), his pick for most underrated Blazer (Bonzi Wells), and even took to some still-fuming Thunder fans… literally. Among other things.

But one of the final questions of the night — “if you could add one former teammate to the current roster, who would you add?” — was one that could surely create some suspense, or at least discussion for a bit. As we’d come to know, Lillard’s answer was simple:

LaMarcus Aldridge.

The comment was eventually deleted from the Portland Trail Blazers’ social media page, but not before fans caught on. The comment racked up thousands of likes and shares in between the two.

Aldridge, who spent the first nine years of his career in Portland, and corralled in four of his seven All-Star Games in Rip City, retweeted the comment with the infamous “eyeball” emoji, much to the demise of Spurs fans.

This isn’t necessarily a new thought, or even a rumor. Over each of the last two seasons, Aldridge has discussed the idea publicly.

And just last month, Lillard returned the love on an episode of The Player’s Tribune’s Knuckleheads Podcast featuring Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson, stating that he believed Portland could win a championship alongside Aldridge.

"“He was the best player I had ever played with, like, that I’ve been up close to like that. I was like, ‘He don’t miss no fadeaways. Every pick-and-roll I come off, when I pass him the ball, he make it every time…’“I was just like excited to be the point guard that got to play with him, and I was like, ‘If me and him gone play together, I’m gone keep getting better, so I can match him. And we gone win it. That’s what I thought.”"

The two thrived in Portland over a three-year run, and especially over their final two seasons together, going 105-59, and were the first pair of All-Stars the Blazers had since 1993-94.

Aldridge isn’t a free agent until the summer of 2021. Early into the 2019-20 season, the San Antonio Spurs had a choice of either paying their All-Star big $24 million to stay, or $7 million to leave in the coming months, and elected to rid themselves of the uncertainty, guaranteeing the rest of that contract.

Both teams are in a rift right now, outside of the postseason race as of today. But given Lillard’s importance to the Blazers, it doesn’t feel like a stretch in any form to imagine them seeking his input, as it relates to roster additions and chances. This is merely speculation and fun for now, but it will certainly be something to look out for in both this offseason, and the next.