The Portland Trail Blazers should sign LaMarcus Aldridge

The Portland Trail Blazers signed second-round pick Greg Brown to a two-way deal this week. In doing this, they used their 13th roster spot, leaving just two roster spots until they reach the 15-man limit.

They are still short in their big man rotation and this should be a focus when Neil Olshey is looking at the last few roster spots. With just the injury-prone Jusuf Nurkic and recently injured and newly signed Cody Zeller.

The need for experience, offense, rim protection and rebounding is still there regardless of if both the Blazers big are fit or not.

This is why, if he is medically cleared, the Blazers should sign LaMarcus Aldridge.

Offensively, the Blazers are likely to be elite this season. With the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best offensive ratings in the last three NBA seasons, they are one of the best teams on that end in the league.

But, this is mainly, the team’s starters contributing to this record. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, combined with Jusuf Nurkic and now Norman Powell, will score at record rates again this year.

But, if you look at the Blazers bench, it could struggle to score at the same pace. Though it will be better defensively with Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter on other teams, offensively these subtractions will hurt the bench.

Free Agent LaMarcus Aldridge could be the piece to come in on the veterans minimum and give some shot-blocking and offense at the five. Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge that Aldridge is a five now, as he doesn’t have the lateral quickness to defend the four anymore.

But, that suits this team fine. Aldridge protected the rim at a rate better than half the league in all of his years with the San Antonio Spurs, and this rate is better than what both Cody Zeller did in the last two seasons and better than every season of Kanter’s career.

Offensively, if the Blazers need another option to create a little offense on the second unit, Aldridge helps there too. He has always been one of the better finishers at the rim in the league, finishing in the top 40 percent of the league in his position every season of his career bar one.

Also, he is one of the best midrange shooters for a big in the NBA, and he was able to stretch this range out to three in the last few years too. He is a 42 percent shooter from mid-range in his career, and he also shot 38.8 percent from three over the last two seasons, on an increased volume of three attempts a night. Aldridge isn’t going to cook players on the low block like he used to, but on a veteran’s minimum deal he will provide strong offense, and be able to stretch the floor at the five.

After retiring in April due to a heart condition, ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported in the last few weeks that Aldridge was contemplating a return. Aldridge would still need to get a medical clearance from the NBA to return to the league, but if he can get this, and doesn’t have the health concerns that forced him to retire, he could be an excellent third backup big in this team.

Aldridge is a Blazer great, who will almost certainly have his number retired in Portland, hopefully he gets to retire on his terms.