http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...aldridge-reach-agreement-three-year-extension Five-time All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge has reached an agreement on a three-year, $72.3 million contract extension with the San Antonio Spurs, league sources told ESPN. The extension will keep Aldridge, 32, under contract with the Spurs through the 2020-21 season. It includes a partially guaranteed salary in the deal's final season, league sources told ESPN. Only $7 million is guaranteed in the final year of the extension, league sources told ESPN's Zach Lowe. The contract extension culminates what had been two often-turbulent seasons between Aldridge and the Spurs since his arrival as a free agent from Portland. The deal reflects the Spurs' desire to continue surrounding Kawhi Leonard with talent and Aldridge's increased comfort with the franchise. Aldridge will opt into the $22.3 million player option on his 2018-19 contract, and the extension's new terms will start with the 2019-20 season. Aldridge is set to make $21.4 million in the 2017-18 season. San Antonio did discuss trade scenarios with teams centered on Aldridge prior to the draft and during the summer but never found an offer that intrigued them enough to make a deal, league sources said. At times, Aldridge hasn't been happy with the franchise, and the franchise hasn't been happy with him. Nevertheless, Aldridge arrived in training camp in strong shape and with a better relationship with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, and both sides understand that the uncertainty of free agency next summer could make an extension a wise option. San Antonio didn't have a better alternative available in free agency to partner with Leonard, and Aldridge couldn't be sure that he'd be able to find this kind of long-term financial score available on the free-agent market. Aldridge averaged 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Spurs a season ago. He has averaged 19.1 points and 8.3 rebounds in his 11-year NBA career.
http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...ge-new-deal-mean-san-antonio-spurs-future-nba What does the LaMarcus Aldridge extension mean for how the San Antonio Spurs build for the future? Aldridge's future in San Antonio seemed uncertain last spring, when his name was floated in trade rumors after a subpar playoff run amid whispers of Aldridge's unhappiness with the Spurs. Yet now Aldridge is signed through 2020-21, having picked up his 2018-19 player option and added two additional years to his contract for approximately $50 million in new money. Extending Aldridge's contract almost certainly prevents San Antonio from clearing the cap space to sign a max free agent outright next summer. So, as they try to chase the Golden State Warriors and keep up with an increasingly competitive Western Conference second tier, where do the Spurs go from here? San Antonio's shrinking cap space The Spurs entered this offseason with just one player under guaranteed contract for the 2018-19 season: All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard. That presented San Antonio with the ability to create significant cap room to add another star to Leonard. Yet the Spurs have quickly spent that money over the past four months. During free agency, San Antonio re-signed point guard Patty Mills to a four-year, $48 million contract and center Pau Gasol to a three-year, $48.8 deal, guaranteeing them a combined $28-plus million in 2018-19. The Spurs also gave a 2018-19 player option worth $8.8 million to newcomer Rudy Gay, a much smaller player option to big man Joffrey Lauvergne ($1.7 million) and $2.5 million for guard Manu Ginobili in the second year of his new contract. As a result of those deals, San Antonio would almost certainly not have been able to clear enough room for a max offer if Aldridge picked up his $22.3 million player option. At most, the Spurs might have had about $20 million in space with Aldridge, assuming all other players (Gay, Lauvergne and starting guard Danny Green) declined their player options and they renounced the rights to their first-round picks. The maximum salary for players with 7-9 years of experience is estimated at $30.3 million, and teams would need to clear $35.4 million in space to make a max offer to LeBron James, Chris Paul or other free agents with 10-plus years of experience. If San Antonio expected Aldridge to pick up his player option, extending him now becomes far more sensible because it won't cost the Spurs any additional cap room. San Antonio could pursue a similar strategy with Green, who holds a $10 million player option for 2018-19, though he's more likely than Aldridge to command more money as a free agent than the option would pay. (San Antonio would have the ability to replace Green's player option with a new contract starting at up to $12 million, a 20 percent raise on his current salary.) The Spurs could also look to extend point guard Tony Parker, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, though he'd almost certainly have to take a pay cut from his current $15.4 million salary. How does San Antonio improve? The downside to the Spurs locking in their core is that the group is surely headed in the wrong direction. Weighted by minutes played, San Antonio's roster was the league's second-oldest last season behind the LA Clippers, and my 2017-18 minutes projections have the Spurs second again (now to the Cleveland Cavaliers). While Leonard is in his prime at age 26, assuming Parker regains his starting role when he returns from injury, every other starter will be 30 or older. That includes Aldridge, who is 32 and no longer the same player he was when San Antonio signed him as the top free agent on the market in the summer of 2015. So how can the Spurs catch the Warriors, let alone hold off the younger challengers to their spot as Golden State's biggest threat? Internal development is one possibility. San Antonio has high hopes for Dejounte Murray, who will start the season at point guard in place of Parker and was impressive in the postseason as a 20-year-old rookie. The Spurs have injected young talent to supplement their aging core in the past, most notably in 2011-12 when Green and Leonard emerged as starters. Still, that's a lot to ask of the youngsters on the roster, none of whom were drafted nearly as high as even Leonard (the 15th pick in 2011, acquired via trade). A more interesting scenario is that the Spurs might still try to get in the mix for top free agents the same way the Houston Rockets acquired Paul this summer -- by trading multiple players in return rather than clearing necessary cap space. If Aldridge plays well this season, an extension that pays him far less than the new max salary could be tradeable. And San Antonio has other interesting parts that could be useful trade chips. That noted, the Spurs won't have the leverage of being able to create cap space to sign a free agent outright. And it's perhaps more likely that, with limited money available for free agents around the league, $25 million a year for Aldridge at age 33 and 34 will look like a significant overpay. (The latter concern could be mitigated somewhat when we find out exactly how much Aldridge is guaranteed in 2020-21. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports San Antonio was able to extract a partial guarantee as part of extension negotiations.) In a league where stars have teamed up to try to take down the Warriors, the Spurs haven't had such a counterweight for Leonard since he emerged as an MVP contender. And given the age of the roster and dwindling flexibility, it's entirely possible San Antonio never finds a second star to join Leonard during his prime.
Spurstalkcom: "Lets wait for the # before we slit our wrists" "OK, time to slit writs and neck" "Thank god North Korea is going to drop the bomb to end our misery" "170 millions for Mills, Aldridge, and Gasol. Combined age over 100 years old. Digest those numbers"
Makes sense. They give it their best shot now - props to the owner to spend big $ on mediocre odds - and in a year or two they will have Kawhi, cap space and developed/ready: Mills Murray As well as whatever comes from Kyle Anderson, Bertans, Lauvergne, Danny Green might be serviceable, Derrick White, Milutinov, maybe even Lalane comes back. Spurs always seem to be able to get some mediocre youngster to make leaps in development. In the meantime, they have their picks too and all these signings are also good trade chips. None of those salaries are untradeable. Combined with late first rounders, they could net good players. Unless Rudy Gay somehow has the best season of his career, I'm not worried about them this season.
Didn't the Spurs lose money last season? They already lost their WNBA team. Seems like one last push to keep their title hopes alive without having to recruit without Pop. I think he's close to done.
Weren't the Spurs desperate to trade him this summer? Now they extend him 3 years? I'm glad they did it as it's detrimental to their competitiveness in the West, but it's certainly a headscratcher.
This is like the Knicks signing Melo to an extension. Good for the rest of the league. One less team to worry about having a shot at the Championship
I'm guessing it might have something to do with the timing of Pop's retirement. He doesn't want a rebuilding year; he wants to take whatever the best shot he can take at a championship this season without reloading.
Is he planning on retiring after this season? If not, I'm sure the Spurs fans are going to be calling for it anyway. LMA will be to the Spurs what Ryno has become to the Rockets, immovable dead weight.
They get less with him as a rental. It makes sense in terms of flip value. I mean, would you be shocked come deadline if morey is calling up SAS asking about LMA? If LMA isn't locked into a deal it could be a major difference maker here. Maybe morey offers the same trash he did for Melo. With LMA locked in, the price only goes up, especially. If he's healthy and producing at a moderate level.
You're an idiot. Learn how to comprehend English fool. Obviously skill wise no but albatross contracts that will be upside down in years to come yes. Fu**In dumb dude.
Two jump shooters with no defensive skill set and getting paid millions for just that. Overpaid and immovable. Go back to spurs talk fu** boy.
Pop: Aldridge asked to be traded before season LOS ANGELES -- San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich revealed Thursday that forward LaMarcus Aldridge requested a trade over the summer, which in turn led to some critical self-examination. Popovich pointed to that candid interaction with Aldridge as somewhat of a catalyst for the two coming to a better understanding before the start of the season. Asked what helped to bring about Aldridge's resurgent 2017-18 campaign, Popovich deadpanned: "When he said, 'I want to be traded.'" "It's as simple as that," Popovich said. "I said, 'Whoa, nobody's ever said that to me before.' It's my 20-whatever year, and nobody's ever said that like, 'I'm not enjoying this. I'm not confident. I'm not sure you want me here. I want to be traded.'" During training camp, Aldridge told ESPN that in a meeting over the summer with Popovich he "just spilled my heart about how I felt about how things were, and how things had been going." Popovich acknowledged the meeting and admitted the two shared some laughs over what would seem to be tense moments. "So, we had some dinners and meetings and laughed," Popovich said. "I was very candid with him. I told him, 'I'd be happy to trade you. You get me a talent like Kevin Durant, and I'll drive you to the airport. I'll pack your bags. And I will drive you there, get you on the plane, and get you seated.' He laughed you know, that kind of thing. I said, 'But short of that, I'm your best buddy because you're here for another year, and you ain't going nowhere. Because we're not gonna get for you talentwise what we would want. So, let's figure this thing out.' And we did. That's what we came to." Aldridge averaged postseason career-lows in points (16.5 per game), rebounds (7.4) and blocks (1.0) last season, which represented a contrast to the forward's production over his past two postseason appearances with the Portland Trail Blazers, when he averaged 24.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. In Game 1 of the 2017 Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Aldridge finished with a career-low four points. Then, during the conference finals against the Golden State Warriors, Aldridge failed to step up and carry the team offensively with Kawhi Leonard hobbled by a sprained ankle, leading the coach to single out the forward during his postgame remarks for being "timid." After sitting down with Aldridge over the summer, however, Popovich realized he had actually played a role in some of Aldridge's struggles. Aldridge has scored 30-plus points in back-to-back outings, and he has put together four consecutive contests in which he has scored at least 24 points. Aldridge has averaged 25.3 points over his past eight games, and he has posted four double-doubles over his last five games. "As discussions went on, it became apparent to me that it really was me," Popovich said. "He'd been playing in the league for nine years. I'm not going to turn him into some other player. I could do some things defensively or reboundingwise. But on offense, I was going to move him everywhere. That was just silly on my part -- total overcoaching. So, we took care of it, and he's been fantastic."
