Freeman: LaMarcus Aldridge Looking For 5-Year Max Deal, Won’t Sign Extension With Blazers This Summer
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports that LaMarcus Aldridge will not sign a contract extension this summer, waiting until 2015 when he can sign a 5-year max deal.
LaMarcus Aldridge tells The Oregonian he will not sign a contract extension with #Blazers this offseason, but plans to do so next summer.
— Joe Freeman (@BlazerFreeman) July 8, 2014
Aldridge said it makes most sense financially to wait because he can sign for more years (5) and make more money ($108 million) next year.
— Joe Freeman (@BlazerFreeman) July 8, 2014
The Aldridge news shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s been written by us and other outlets that Aldridge could earn a bigger pay day by waiting until the summer of 2015 to hit free agency according to the leagues collective bargaining agreement.
The Blazers reportedly offered Aldridge a 3-year max extension a few weeks ago.
Aldridge is coming off of his best season and his first playoff win. Blazers General Manager Neil Olshey and Aldridge have both been saying the right things since the season ended, beginning with Olshey saying Aldridge was “priority number one” for the organization in exit interviews.
“The most important thing is everybody including LaMarcus knows he’s the number one priority in the organization right now,” Olshey said. “These are all things that will be worked out with LaMarcus and his agent. I think the big thing is that LaMarcus wants to be here and clearly we want him here. That’s the challenging part, the economic part will take care of itself.”
After trade rumors hung over Aldridge and the Blazers last summer, this offseason has had a much different tone.
Erik Gundersen
Erik Gundersen is the Trail Blazers beat reporter for The Columbian. He's a graduate of the Allen School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon in addition earning a degree in Spanish. He's covered the NBA for four seasons. You can also occasionally find his work on ESPN.com's NBA section for their TrueCities series. He also fist-bumped with Kanye West once. Follow @BlazerBanter on twitter for more Blazers and NBA news.