Back on July 4th, the San Antonio Spurs signed Texas-native LaMarcus Aldridge to a 4 year / $84 million deal, making him one of the biggest free agency signings of the year. This move will make San Antonio, a team 1 year removed from a title and with players like Tim Duncan, Tony Parkey, and Kawhi Leonard already on the roster, a legit threat to the Golden State Warriors as the best team in the Western Conference. LaMarcus Aldridge is very happy to be back in his home state. He grew up in Dallas, and played his college basketball at the University of Texas. On his return home, he comments“To be back in this state means a lot,” Aldridge said. “It’s my home. It means being close to my family and having my UT fans back behind me”. Clearly LaMarcus had an interest of moving back home, after spending 9 years in Portland. He wanted to spend more time with his family, and be closer to his loyal fans from his college days. This desire to go back to Texas gave San Antonio an upperhand once free agency rolled around. One of the main resources of the San Antonio’s attempt to land him in free agency was their location. The only other Texas team that was persuing Aldridge was the Houston Rockets, but they didn’t have nearly enough money to sign the 4-time all star. So it was really between San Antonio and the Phoenix Suns, and the Suns even had even more money to offer Aldridge after a major contract dump, but Aldridge took the hometown discount and signed with San Antonio. This is a real-life example of how resources of an argument can really help persuade someone. Had San Antonio been located in a different state, they wouldn’t have stood the chance to offer Aldridge the amount of Money teams like the Suns or Lakers had available.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/back-texas-lamarcus-aldridge
gvl5144 says
This was a huge signing. I never thought it was a question of if he would sign with the Spurs considering everything they offer. They have the best coach in the association and a legitimate chance at winning a title this year. They also signed David West for nothing giving them the best front court in the NBA in my opinion.