San Antonio Spurs and veteran striker LaMarcus Aldridge have mutually agreed not to return to the team, coach Gregg Popovich announced on Wednesday night.
Spurs are engaged on several fronts with possible transactions for Aldridge and I think they can find a deal, maybe even next week, and will avoid the need to negotiate the termination of the contract, sources for ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said.
If there are no exchanges for Aldridge before the March 25 deadline and the termination of the contract takes effect, many of the league’s top teams are privately expressing interest in adding him as a free agent, sources said.
Aldridge, 35, a seven-time All-Star, has been given permission to “work a few opportunities elsewhere,” although he remains officially on the Spurs list for the time being. He has an expiring contract with a salary of 24 million dollars.
“He was a great teammate. No problem,” Popovich said during his pre-game virtual media availability. “We just think this is good for LaMarcus and the club. When an opportunity arises, it will depend on the management, their agent and so on, and we will all move on.”
Aldridge missed eight of the Spurs’ last 11 games before the All-Star break due to hip and quadriceps injuries. He came off the bench in all three games he played in that stretch, playing as a backup for the first time since starting with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2006-07.
Spurs won six of the eight games in which Aldridge was out, entering the All-Star break with an 18-14 record and seventh in the Western Conference standings.
Aldridge have averaged 13.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this season, shooting 46.4% from the ground and 36% from the 3-point distance.
“He did everything I asked him to do,” Popovich said. “Right now, we want to do something that works for both him and our club, because it’s worth it.”
Aldridge averaged 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game over five and a half seasons with Spurs, with whom he signed to the free agency after spending the first nine seasons of his career in Portland.