On Thursday night, the Portland Trail Blazers star power forward, LaMarcus Aldridge won the Harry Glickman Award (Oregon Pro Athlete of the Year) at the 63rd annual Oregon Sport Awards at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.
It put a cap on what may have been Aldridge’s best season as a professional athlete, just in time for him to become one of the most coveted free agent this summer.
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In April, I made the argument that Aldridge deserves to be named to the All-NBA First Team with a little positional manipulation. Things ended poorly for the Blazers in their first-round matchup with Memphis, which makes it easy to forget how good Aldridge was this season even as he played with the injured thumb that he had surgery on almost a month ago.
Aldridge averaged a career high 23.4 points per game in only 35.4 minutes per game (his lowest since his second season in the league). For the second season in a row he averaged more than 10 rebounds per game, a feat he was not able to accomplish in any of his first seven seasons in the league.
He was maybe the most deadly mid-range scorer in the entire league and had a very identifiable sweet spot on the left block.
Aldridge also progressed once again defensively. He posted career bests in Defensive Rating (102) and Defensive Win Shares (3.7) according to Basketball Reference. He also added 3-point range to his versatile offensive repertoire, shooting better than 35 percent and making more 3-pointers this season than in the previous eight combined.
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The timing for Aldridge couldn’t be better as he enters free agency as quite possibly the best player that could be considered available. For the Blazers, they have a lot of big decisions to make this offseason about Aldridge, but also Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, and the core of their roster.
At this time last year, this all seemed to be a formality. Aldridge and the Blazers did not come to an agreement on an extension, but he assured Blazers fans that he fully expected to re-sign this offseason and had the desire to finish his career with one team as the greatest Blazer of all time.
That may have been where things went wrong. As Mike Richman of The Oregonian reported when Aldridge won this award:
"It was the first such award for Aldridge, joining Damian Lillard (2013) and former Blazer Brandon Roy (2007-09) as Harry Glickman Award winners. Previous Blazers to receive the Glickman award include Damon Stoudamire, Clyde Drexler, Buck Williams, Cliff Robinson, Bill Walton, Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks."
It’s taken a very long time for Blazers fans, the organization, the city of Oregon to show Aldridge the appreciation he probably always deserved. While Brandon Roy and Damian Lillard were given the support of the organization, fans, and won this award relatively quickly, Aldridge, probably more consistent than both, has just gone about his business.
It’s not surprising that now the Blazers, the city, the Oregon Sports Awards are willing to recognize Aldridge for the player he is. But maybe it’s too little, too late. We all know the options Aldridge will have this offseason. His hometown team Dallas will have the space. A franchise with pedigree in the San Antonio Spurs may as well.
The big markets in New York and Los Angeles are practically desperate for a talent like Aldridge.
I'm truly thankful to be named Oregon Pro Athlete of the Year at Nike last night.
— LaMarcus Aldridge (@aldridge_12) June 12, 2015
Rumors have been flying around an unlikely destination in Boston and Aldridge was allegedly spotted at Logan airport in Boston last week. That list could grow as more teams look to carve out cap space heading into, during, and after the draft.
The city of Portland doesn’t have a professional baseball team. Or football team. Or hockey team. For Aldridge to not have won this award in any of his previous nine seasons with the team is kind of a shame. That’s probably why he wasn’t there to receive the award in person. He might have been too busy exploring his other options.
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