Former Portland Trail Blazers All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge said during an interview for a Damian Lillard podcast series that he tried several times to return to Rip City after leaving as a free agent in 2015.
However, according to Aldridge, his efforts were rebuffed by then-general manager Neil Olshey. That was despite Lillard requesting that an effort be made to bring Aldridge back to Portland.
“It’s the first year I left, (Lillard) was like, ‘You gotta come home, you gotta come home,’” Aldridge said on the podcast. “So then, hearing it from him, and me going to San Antonio, and I actually experienced it, at some point, I did try to get back.”
Aldridge said he tried several times to return.
“I was calling trying to get back,” Aldridge said. “My agent was calling. He was just like, ‘Yeah, they don’t want you back.’”
For Aldridge, the Blazers not bringing him back justified his leaving.
“That was confirming how I felt when I left,” Aldridge said. “I feel like Neil really didn’t want me back like that. And I feel like he confirmed it when I tried to come back two or three times throughout my career. He never let it happen. And I even tried to go back at the end one last time.”
Olshey did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Losing Aldridge to free agency was a serious blow to the franchise. The Blazers recovered enough to reach the Western Conference finals during the 2018-19 season. But their chances of winning a championship would have been greatly enhanced with Aldridge playing alongside Lillard and CJ McCollum.
The Blazers were blindsided by his departure. He left despite repeatedly stating he planned to re-sign with the Blazers.
“I would like to re-sign here,” he said in the summer of 2014. “If they want to talk about it, I would talk about it. They haven’t yet, but I’m looking forward to the chance to do that.”
The Blazers offered an extension in 2014, but Aldridge wanted to hit free agency, when he could receive a larger deal.
The Blazers stepped up with a max five-year contract offer worth about $115 million to return. But Aldridge rejected the deal to sign a four-year deal worth $84 million deal with the Spurs.
That meant the Blazers could not trade Aldridge for assets.
Aldridge, during his interview, talked about trying to get back to Portland early on in his time with San Antonio. But that would have required the Spurs to be willing to trade him to Portland.
Memphis Grizzlies v Portland Trail Blazers - Game Three
LaMarcus Aldridge #12 of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots the ball on Zach Randolph #50 of the Memphis Grizzlies during the fourth quarter in Game Three of the Western Conference quarterfinals during the 2015 NBA Playoffs at the Moda Center on April 25th, 2015 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)Getty Images
That also would have meant that the Blazers would have traded assets to reacquire a player who left for nothing after that player said he planned to stay.
Aldridge became a free agent again in 2019 following an All-Star season. He signed a two-year, $50 million deal with the Spurs. Aldridge played in just 53 games during the 2019-20 season. The following season, he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets. Injuries limited him to 26 games between the two teams.
He announced his retirement in April 2021 because of an irregular heartbeat. But he ended up playing 47 games with12 starts for the 2021-22 season.
That season turned out to be a disaster for the Blazers. Olshey was fired, Lillard underwent season-ending surgery, CJ McCollum suffered a collapsed lung and the Blazers finished 27-55.
Signing Aldridge for a farewell season in 2022-23 would have been up to current general manager Joe Cronin, who replaced Olshey in December 2021.
-- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)