Bruce Ely/The Oregonian
Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge at his Lake Oswego home in the offseason.
LAKE OSWEGO -- As he stands at the granite island in his kitchen, LaMarcus Aldridge wolfs down two slices of pizza, the mass of cheese and crust in his mouth providing roadblocks in communication. The Trail Blazers' star-in-the-making is asked when he will he begin his offseason training.
"Muly un," Aldridge mutters.
Translation: July 1.
With whom will he train?
"Rish mursh," he says, cheeks puffed.
Translation: Chris Bosh, the Toronto Raptors All-Star power forward who, like Aldridge, lives in Dallas.Although his 6-foot-11 frame is sleek, Aldridge has prominent shoulders, as if a grapefruit has been implanted in each deltoid. Today, his left shoulder is particularly noticeable, the result of a recent three-hour session in a North Portland tattoo shop.
Aldridge flew from Dallas to Portland last week to add on to an existing tattoo of cupped hands in prayer. The finished product has intricate, web-like lines of red that extend from the top of his shoulder to the bottom of his biceps. But the message of the artwork is bold.
In black cursive it reads Faith.
Why Faith?
This time, there is no nonchalant, food-in-the-mouth answer. Aldridge makes sure this answer is clear and understood.
"Because I'm a man of strong faith. Strong beliefs," Aldridge says, holding eye contact.
Rip City Revival
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His faith and beliefs will be tested in the coming weeks. Along with team leader Brandon Roy, Aldridge is eligible this summer for a contract extension ranging from one to five years.
Both Roy and Aldridge are expected to ask for maximum contracts, which figure to start in the ballpark of $13 million in the first year and inflate to around $18 million within four years.
But while Roy's voluminous resume will produce a resounding thud on the bargaining table, Aldridge's worth is more difficult to define.
Roy has played in two All-Star games. Been voted to the all-NBA second team. Won the rookie of the year award. Set a Rose Garden record with 52 points.
In his first three seasons Aldridge has been good -- really good -- but not great. He made the rookie-sophom*ore game in his second season, and last season he averaged 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds, statistical marks only nine other NBA players could claim.
Throughout his gradual progression, there has been little doubt that Aldridge, 23, will one day be a perennial All-Star, the type of player who can shoulder the responsibility of carrying a team. The only question is how soon that day arrives, leaving the Blazers in a sticky spot: Do they pay for potential or production?
Today is the first day negotiations can begin. If Aldridge and the Blazers don't come to an agreement by Oct. 31, he will become a free agent after this season, although the Blazers will still hold the right to match an offer from other teams.
The negotiating battlefield promises to be loaded with landmines.
For starters, Aldridge is easily insulted. In addition, he makes no secret about his love of Texas, his home state, and his frustration with Oregon's dreary winters. On top of it all, he is represented by super agent Arn Tellem, who is accustomed to getting his way.
But with his Faith tattoo still so fresh that it hurts to touch, Aldridge declares that Blazers fans have nothing to worry about. He says he doesn't care if Roy gets more money. And he says that even though his roots are in Texas, his heart is in Portland.
"People always ask me if I'm worried (about the negotiations)," Aldridge said. "And I'm like, 'No.' Because I love being here. I love this city. I love my teammates. It's like, when something fits so well ... I'm not worried about it. I have faith that everything will work out."
Getting his due
Aldridge points to a newly opened envelope from FedEx on his kitchen counter, from which he pulls out a booklet. The slick cover has his picture in a Blazers uniform and the glossy pages consist of charts, statistics and facts that outline where Aldridge ranks among his peers.
The booklet was prepared by the Wasserman Media Group, the powerful agency for which Tellem works, and it no doubt will land on the desk of Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard.
The booklet notes the average salary for a starting power forward not on his rookie contract is $13.4 million a year.
It highlights that statistically, Aldridge ranks as the NBA's sixth best power forward behind Pau Gasol, Bosh, Tim Duncan, Antawn Jamison and Dirk Nowitzki. Those players averaged $14.6 million last season.
The statistics, charts and comparisons go on for about 50 pages, all of them centered around how much other players are making, and how Aldridge is just as good, if not better.
The booklet is the product of an agency that has done its homework, and an indication that Aldridge's representatives are ready to roll up their sleeves and fight for their client.
Aldridge is quite pleased with the booklet, for it plays to his personality while stroking his sometimes fragile ego.
Of all the Blazers, Aldridge is the most private, guarded and straightforward. He isn't one to put on a fake smile for the television cameras, and he takes his time to determine who is trustworthy, which can make him come off as prickly. He is, as Blazers employees will say, the most real person on the team.
Therefore, he likes how the booklet's statistics and rankings speak for themselves.
He is also one of the most sensitive players on the team, one who can perceive slights from the most innocuous of actions, then remember them for years.
He remembers an ESPN commentator questioning the Blazers' draft-night strategy, which included picking him second overall. And in his second season he remembers feeling excluded by Roy from a dinner gathering on the road, prompting him to keep a social distance from Roy for the rest of the season.
The booklet, he feels, gives him his due.
Now, the question is whether the Blazers will do the same.
Ties in Texas
Lounging on a couch in his meticulous home, Aldridge acts as if he has not a worry in the world, especially when it comes to his contract extension.
He is void of insecurities and chips on his shoulder, which makes him seem older, and more at peace with himself.
This peace comes even as several forces appear to be pulling him from Portland and the Blazers.
Indications are that the Blazers are prepared to give Roy the maximum contract, but not Aldridge. However, the team might be willing to start his contract in the $10 million-a-season range, double his current salary.
To an outsider, it's easy to wonder whether Aldridge feels slighted in the shadow of Roy. Will he shun an offer and wait to test the free-agent market next summer, where perhaps Dallas, San Antonio or Houston can give him that maximum contract and bring him back to his beloved home state?
He is, after all, a Texan through and through, and makes no effort in hiding it. He has TX BOY 12 stitched on the back of his Nike game shoes and pulls for the Dallas Cowboys. And although he owns a beautiful, chateau-like 5,200-square foot home in Lake Oswego, he spends most of his summer in Dallas in his 7,200-square foot home that features a basketball court.
Plus, there has been an unexpected addition to the equation: Aldridge this spring became a father. His son and the mother live in San Antonio.
During the playoffs, when Aldridge was excused from the team's flight to Houston before Game 3 in order to fly to Texas for a "family emergency," it was because his ex-girlfriend had gone into labor two weeks early.
Jaylen Lea Aldridge was born April 23, a healthy 8 pounds.
"He's fat right now, looks just like me when I was little," Aldridge said. "He has like three chins, and his legs are so fat, it's like 'Man, it's time for you to start running.' But he has big hands and feet and he has my ears."
It is a serious development for Aldridge, whose father was not a part of his life. He is no longer with the mother, but has an arrangement to see his son every other week.
"My father wasn't really in my life," Aldridge said. "So I'm going to be very involved, trying to be around him as much as I can, see him as much as I can."
Each of these scenarios would seem to possibly draw him away from Portland. But when asked about that prospect, he shakes his head and smiles slightly.
He brings up his beliefs, his faith.
Emphatically, he says he will sign an extension this summer.
"It would be better for everything," Aldridge said. "It's better chemistry wise and just ... for my sanity. This is where I want to be, so I think it is important for me to get it wrapped up. But I don't think it's going to be a problem."
If it comes to it, he says that he has no problem earning less than Roy, who has become one of his closest friends on the team.
"With Brandon, I don't think it's a question of whether he is going to get the max. He's the go-to player. ... It's established that this is his team," Aldridge said. "I've never had a thought that he wouldn't get the max, so that hasn't bothered me at all."
And, in perhaps the most surprising development, he says Portland has become his second home, not just a city where he works.
"I love Portland. I have never been part of anything like this city gave me when we went to the playoffs," Aldridge said. "It was like college. I mean, if I went to the freaking grocery store, people were like, 'We love you! Thank you for everything!' I just love being here."
Part of his acclimation to Portland has been through recent efforts to explore the city. He has identified favorite restaurants all over the area. For Mexican, he heads to the Iron Horse in Sellwood. For a burger, he goes to Stanich's in Alameda. For Italian, he goes down the street to Zeppo in Lake Oswego. For a sandwich, he heads to Philadelphia's in West Linn.
"My first year, I was kind of boxed in and didn't go anywhere," Aldridge said. "And it was rain, rain, rain. I was kind of bored. But since I have tried to learn more about the city, to learn about the spots that make this city Portland, I have definitely enjoyed it more. Just learning about burger joints that have been here since Rip City ... things like that make it more fun to be here."
All-Star aspirations
His Lake Oswego home is tastefully decorated, the interior's earth tones and dark wood accentuated by plants, paintings and ceramic vases. There is only one sign that a basketball player lives there: On a shelf in his television room is a purple and yellow basketball from the 2008 rookie-sophom*ore game in New Orleans. The ball is signed by all the participants.
It is curiously well displayed for such a relatively minor accomplishment, and he speaks of it in a rather dismissive tone.
It soon becomes clear that he has much bigger aspirations.
The All-Star Game this season will be in Dallas, in the Cowboys new football stadium. Because of the venue, the event is expected to draw record crowds for a basketball game. Just thinking about it gets Aldridge amped up, causing his voice to quicken and his hands to move.
"There is so much history being made," Aldridge said. "To not be a part of that would hurt."
He feels he was on the cusp of being selected to the All-Star team last season, but was left off when forwards Nowitzki, Gasol and David West were selected ahead of him.
"I was almost there last year, and I feel it's the direction I'm heading," Aldridge said. "If I go home this summer and work harder and get better, I should be there next year."
So today he will be in a gym with Bosh and DeSagana Diop, beginning his summer workouts. He says he wants to improve his left hand, both in dribbling and shooting.
"A veteran told me when I first came into the league that you have to add something every summer," Aldridge said. "Because as you get better, players are going to learn your tendencies, so you have to come back with something different."
In his first summer he added a post-up game to his outside shot. Last summer, he added three-point range to his jumper. This summer, he hopes to come back with two new assets -- a better left hand and a long-term contract.
"I love it here," Aldridge said again. "One of the main reasons is my teammates. We are so young and we are growing together. If you go to a different team, there's not going to be the same chemistry, or the same level of friendship. I think here, everybody is so close. So I think it's going to be cool. Portland, my agent and myself -- we will all come to something that is fair. I think that can happen easily."
-- Jason Quick: 503-221-4372; jasonquick@news.oregonian.com
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