The Brooklyn Nets and the Capacity For More
The Blazers have a lesson to learn. That their past pain is what's holding them back.
My Mom got the vaccine. Two of my friends got the vaccine. When I met my best friend for lunch last week, sitting down outside and actually letting the day come, it felt like a real dream. And then I went home to watch the Brooklyn Nets, who are continuously challenging the status quo of what Life and Art are supposed to be.
Listen to the Nets, Blazers fans. Listen to the Nets and come back to Portland, LaMarcus. No more must you cower in the shadows of what didn’t happen. Now is the time to be outside and claim what was rightfully yours. The Nets have given everyone permission to see beyond quarantine. To see beyond the pain of the virus, or Wesley Matthews’ blown Achilles in 2015, or the pressures of the NBA free agency machine forcing the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers of the mid-2010s to blow apart. The Vibes Council, led by three guys expertly gifted in playing by their own rules, has stamped it.
I have no concerns about Dame being ready for the moment and now that CJ is back, nor do I worry about him. Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent Jr. are cash money in the clutch and Robert Covington is the do-it-all player the Blazers traded two first-round picks for. But I have my concerns, like every other thinking viewer of the Blazers, about their team defense. Enes Kanter has earned his check and then some thanks to his sticktoitiveness and offensive efficiency, before and after Nurkic’s injury. But even as Nurkic’s return is on the horizon, one has to zoom out and ask yourself what you might want on the floor in the last few minutes of a playoff series against DeAndre Ayton, Rudy Gobert, or Nikola Jokic? Let alone, Anthony Davis?
As great as Nurkic has been at times, his playoff resume is rather short through no fault of his own. He’s been hurt most of the time and last year he was coming off of a major layoff. But again, he’s coming off another extended time off and has reportedly been dealing with a calf issue. His potential is so much higher than what the Blazers will get out of Aldridge if he comes back, but LaMarcus practically wrote the Ph.D on where consistency can get you vs. what your hopes for potential can actually buy in a Blazers uniform. At least in place of Kanter, it would be an absolute upgrade and one that would add a true inside-out threat at the center position.
With no disrespect to Nurkic’s Twitter videos from the 3-point line, LaMarcus Aldridge has transformed into a true stretch five in San Antonio, shooting 36 percent from the 3-point line over the past two seasons.
The Spurs rebuilt their team after Kawhi Leonard left and LaMarcus had been a part of that identity until his shoulder surgery before the bubble. Once the Spurs incorporated their new draft picks and style, the signs were there for Aldridge to start packing his bags.
According to the latest reports, Miami and Boston are the two teams in the mix for Aldridge. Tristan Thompson, who the Celtics bet on to be a game-changer and has been dreadful, suddenly showed up on Boston’s Health and Safety protocols the other day. Miami’s Godfather Pat Riley, legend has it, held a free agency meeting with LaMarcus during his 2015 free agency with the express purpose of keeping Miami in mind down the line, as they didn’t have the cap space to sign him that period.
This is the NBA and nothing is ever a done deal, no matter how great the story. But it feels as though the Nets have tapped into something that has been eating at the NBA ever since Kevin Durant went to Golden State and completely reset the league. A lot of those teams (Thunder, Clippers, Cavaliers, Rockets) had a great chance and they were great, then broken, thrown away, and forgotten.
As for why LaMarcus would come back to Portland? Dame has never relented and he’s as great as he’s ever been. With the help of CJ, as well as the rest of the roster the Blazers have built, Dame has kept the spirit alive of the chances the Blazers had in 2015. I love Dame’s heroics and last night was yet another treat. But they’re still one player short for me to really start taking them seriously as a contender in the West. And there’s no other team where LaMarcus can Reclaim the Lost Vibe.
All that’s left to complete the vibe is for LaMarcus Aldridge to rejoin the party. But it will take LaMarcus and the Blazers learning this lesson from Brooklyn: when you get a chance to break free, don’t be afraid to love again.