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Despite reports that he's already informed them he plans to leave, the Portland Trail Blazers have seemingly not abandoned hope of re-signing free-agent power forward LaMarcus Aldridge.
Their offseason Plan A at present involves giving max contracts to both Aldridge and Detroit Pistons free agent Greg Monroe - another power forward - which Portland has the requisite cap space to do.
From Jason Quick of the Oregonian:
Neil Olshey, the Blazers' president of basketball operations, headed a Blazers contingent that met with agent David Falk in Washington D.C. early Wednesday to pitch the idea of Monroe playing next to Aldridge.
It's hard to see the logic behind this pitch, especially given Aldridge's known distaste for playing center.
While Olshey publicly denied the report that Aldridge had declared his intention to seek employment elsewhere, the four-time All-Star scheduled meetings with seven teams, and was said to be blown away by the pitch from the San Antonio Spurs, in particular.
The Blazers still have the ability to offer Aldridge more salary and a longer contract than any other team. But if pairing him with Monroe - a fine player but a non-shooter, non-center, and decidedly awkward fit next to Aldridge - is their best pitch, it likely won't be enough.
