Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridg (Photo : REUTERS)
The San Antonio Spurs have emerged as the victor in the LaMarcus Aldridge sweepstakes as Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Saturday that the All-Star power forward has decided to join Tim Duncan and Greg Popovich on a four-year, $80 million.
Firecrackers may light up the San Antonio sky way early today following reports about Aldridge's decision to join the five-time NBA champion Spurs.
The Spurs, who have been linked to Aldridge as early as last summer, landed the most-coveted big man this free-agency period, a development that will certainly catapult them back to title contention next season.
Averaging a career-high 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.0 block per game last season with the Portland Trail Blazers, the 29-year old Aldridge fielded offers from multiple teams, including big market ball clubs such as the Los Angeles Clippers and the Miami Heat. However, after talking with team executives over the last three days, Aldridge eventually decided to pick the Spurs.
Wojnarowski reported the Phoenix Suns made a strong case in acquiring Aldridge, but at the end of the day, the Spurs won the bid because of its ability to put him in position to contend for the title right away.
With Aldridge coming to San Antonio, the Spurs are instantly one of the favorites to win it all next season regardless of the strength of the Western Conference. Over the last few days, the Spurs made several movements to keep their core intact (re-signing Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green) and create financial flexibility by trading Tiago Splitter to the Atlanta Hawks.
Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are also expected to return on a bargain deal, giving the Spurs more firepower and experience to contend for their sixth championship after succumbing to the Los Angeles Clippers in a hardly-fought seven-game first-round series.
