The Portland Trail Blazers’ all-time starting 5

Power Forward: LaMarcus Aldridge

Career stats: 19.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 48.9 FG%

In 2006, the Blazers were the talk of the night. At sixth overall they made a trade for a scoring shooting guard of their future, but only after their first big move of the night in a deal with the Chicago Bulls. Selected second overall, LaMarcus Aldridge was then traded from the Chicago Bulls to Portland in exchange for Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa in a complete steal.

The tale that comes after is history. Entering the NBA after three seasons as a Texas Longhorn, Aldridge would become the low-post threat to one of the league’s upcoming dynamic duos alongside Brandon Roy. He made a name for himself league-wide, going from averaging 9.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks a night to a regular 20-and-10 power forward in his prime.

After the injury and retirement of Roy, Aldridge was left as the new leader of Portland. He put up 21.7 points and 8.0 rebounds a night on 51.2 percent shooting the season following Roy’s career-ending injuries. He would later pass the torch to Damian Lillard before leaving the Blazers for the San Antonio Spurs in free agency.

There’s no doubt that Aldridge is a Blazers great. Although he was never able to lead them past the second round, he made four All-Star appearances in Portland, earned All-Rookie First Team honors and was a two-time All-NBA Third Team selection during his time in Rip City.

Achieving accolades that no other power forward in franchise history earned with offensive ability and tenacious rebounding, Aldridge’s spot in the all-time starting five is well deserved.