Trail Mix: LaMarcus Aldridge free-agent round-up, Damian Lillard extension

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Portland Trail Blazers free-agent big man LaMarcus Aldridge took meetings late last night with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets. Then as most of you were just waking up in the morning, the San Antonio Spurs started to get their ducks in a row.

As the San Antonio Express News and others have detailed, the Spurs pursuit of Aldridge would require some cap gymnastics. Not only did they get an agreement in place with Kawhi Leonard, they also got Danny Green to comeback at a discount of a hair over $11 million per season.

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes

Representatives from Aldridge’s camp were holed up with a Spurs contingent led by GM R.C. Buford around noon ET, ready to hear a pitch that includes multiple championship rings, a max salary slot and agreements in place to retain Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, league sources told CBSSports.com.

Leonard and Tim Duncan were expected to play prominent roles in the Spurs’ recruitment of Aldridge, who met with the Los Angeles Lakers overnight.

Then they traded Tiago Splitter to the Atlanta Hawks. With Green taking the discount, it presents Aldridge with his best chance to win a championship and a win-now core for the future in Green, Leonard and Aldridge.

The LA Times reported that it was a “two-horse race” between the Lakers and Spurs. But Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweeted that the Lakers didn’t make much of an impression on Aldridge.

I guess the lobbying from Adam Levine and Snoop Dogg didn’t do enough. But, in fairness, Spurs.

Nothing is officially yet and Aldridge is still slated to take other meetings. But with the Spurs getting everything set and Aldridge’s fondness for Duncan, the Spurs look like his final destination.

In news about the Blazers’ future and not their past, Damian Lillard and the team are nearing an agreement on a 5-year $120 million extension according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

Other moves of note: 

• The Spurs movement weren’t the only things that affected the market today. With the destinations of Khris Middleton (Millwaukee), DeMarre Carroll (Toronto) and Green already decided, the remaining crop of quality wing players is dwindling. The Blazers struck first with signing Al-Farouq Aminu. The Blazers also met with Greg Monroe in Washington DC according to Wojnarowski. 
• The contracts are obviously trending up with the new cap coming in 2017. Players aren’t waiting for the cap to officially go up to get what they feel is fair market value. Wesley Matthews is reportedly still holding out for $15 million from the Dallas Mavericks.