Former Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge feels conflicted when he looks back at his partnership with point guard Damian Lillard and shooting guard CJ McCollum. The three-year period when the three hit top gear was clearly the high point of Aldridge’s career — providing two of his best scoring seasons. While he relishes that, he also feels that had the trio remained together, it would have had a negative impact on both Lillard and McCollum.
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Lillard and Aldridge powered the franchise to consecutive 50+ win seasons from 2013 to 2015. However, the high-scoring power forward was traded to the San Antonio Spurs ahead of the 2015-2016 campaign, breaking the partnership.
Aldridge admits he could have wreaked more havoc alongside the prime versions of McCollum and Lillard. However, both Lillard and McCollum bloomed into bigger players after his departure.
Aldridge was a player who needed the ball in his hands a lot to create his offense, and often used to pull off elaborate moves in the high and low-post situations. That meant the touches for Lillard and McCollum were limited.
Lillard and McCollum formed an elite backcourt after his departure, Aldridge acknowledged this on The Knuckleheads podcast, adding:
“Every now and then, I’m like, ‘Damn, if I was still there, that’d be dope’ to be rocking with them too. Now, they’re mature and they are at this level, we all can kind of dominate together but my point is I think I would have stifled the growth a little bit cuz I was so ball-dominant when I was there. Dame and I played well together and he got to get off, but I don’t like CJ would come in off the bench and he’d get to his bag. So I don’t know if it would have ever gone to the peak together with CJ being as good as he [is] now.”
Aldridge opined that the added pressure helped in priming the game of the guards further. They started shouldering the major responsibilities of the team as well.
Aldridge’s view is substantiated by hard statistics. McCollum had a breakout year after his departure. He put up 20.8 points per game compared to a 6.8 PPG in Aldridge’s last year with the Trail Blazers. Meanwhile, Lillard tallied 25.1 PPG after he left, compared to 21 PPG as his partner.
Lillard, though, has a different take on it. He is convinced that if Aldridge stayed put at the Blazers, they could have won a championship together.
Lillard wanted Aldridge to stay
Aldridge’s departure may have helped the individual offensive game of Lillard and McCollum. But the fact remains they couldn’t and didn’t get to the NBA Finals without him. Aldridge could have stayed, and going by how thoughtful a player he was, would have ensured the growth of the backcourt duo. That would have led to something special, wouldn’t it?
Lillard lamented Aldridge’s exit in 2016. He spoke about that on Club 520 podcast:
“One thing I think about in my career is if he would have never went to San Antonio, we would have won at least once already. Cause I would have come into my own but he was that good.”
Then again, the prime versions of Lillard, McCollum, and Aldridge may not have been enough to stop the Golden State Warriors. Nonetheless, this happens to be one of the tantalizing “what-Ifs” in recent NBA history.
