LaMarcus Aldridge gets real on regrets leaving Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers

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LaMarcus Aldridge had a long career in the NBA, and he played with a lot of great players over the years. One of the best players that he played with was Damian Lillard, and the two were together on the Portland Trail Blazers. Obviously, neither of them are on the Trailblazers now as Aldridge is retired and Lillard plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, but they had some special years on that team.

Aldridge spent 16 years in the NBA, and he played for the Trail Blazers for nine years. Lillard has been in the NBA for 12 years, and he spent 11 seasons in Portland. This upcoming season will be his second with the Bucks.

Damian Lillard’s first three seasons in the NBA were the last three seasons that LaMarcus Aldridge played for the Trail Blazers, so the two of them only spent three years together. Aldridge admitted that he thinks about what could’ve been if he had played there longer with Lillard, and also CJ McCollum.

“Every now and then I'd be like ‘damn if I was still there it would be dope to be rocking with them two,'” Aldridge said during an episode of the Knuckleheads Podcast. “Now that they're mature and they're at this level and we could kind of like done it together. But my point is I think I would've stifled the growth a little bit because I was so ball dominant when I was there. Like Dame and I played well together and he got to get off. But when CJ would get off he would come in off the bench and then he would get his bag.”

LaMarcus Aldridge has mixed feelings on leaving Portland

There is definitely a part of LaMarcus Aldridge that has some regrets about leaving the Trail Blazers when they had talented guys like Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum on the outside. That trio could’ve done some big things, but Aldridge also thinks that maybe it was for the best. Would Lillard and McCollum have grown into the players they are today if Aldridge had stayed in Portland? We don’t know.

“So I don't know if it would have ever gotten to the peak together with CJ being as good as he is now,” Aldridge continued. “But of course I did think like if I was still there and they had me on the inside and they're doing their thing on the outside we would've made a crazy run but I also feel they all grew once I left because they had some growing pains.”

When Alridge left the Trail Blazers, his next stop was with the San Antonio Spurs, and he spent a good amount of time there before making one final move. He finished off his career with the Brooklyn Nets.

McCollum, like Aldridge and Lillard, also moved on from Portland. He has spent the last three years with the New Orleans Pelicans, and that is where he is now.

The trio of McCollum, Lillard and Aldridge in Portland could’ve been something special in the long run, but we’ll never know what it would’ve been.

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