NBA Portland Trail Blazers

LaMarcus Aldridge Makes Questionable Decision to Delay Surgery, Return to Portland Trail Blazers

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By @DSchultz89

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Everyone knows how important LaMarcus Aldridge is to the Portland Trail Blazers, including Aldridge himself.

The superstar power forward will reportedly delay having surgery on his thumb that would have sidelined him for 6-8 weeks, instead opting to continue to play through the pain.

Aldridge is currently averaging 23.2 PPG, 10.2 RPG and 1.2 BPG and shooting 46 percent from the field this year. His turnaround jump shot and pick-and-pop game is amongst the best in the league. He is no defensive powerhouse, but his offense production and his ability to hit incredibly difficult shots makes him a valuable piece to the Trail Blazers.

With that said, this decision is a highly questionable one given the Trail Blazers’ current placement in the standings. Right now, they are 31-13 and have a strong grasp on the third seed in the Western Conference. Their closest competition, the Oklahoma City Thunder, remain 8.5 games back of them, and there are many questioning if the Thunder will even make the playoffs this year.

If the Trail Blazers were to suffer this kind of devastating blow, the best time for it to happen would be now. It is halfway through the season, they have established themselves as a playoff team, and losing a player like Aldridge would put more pressure on the rest of the team to step up their games and elevate their play so that by the time Aldridge returned, they might in fact be a better team.

One has to assume Aldridge thought long and hard about this decision; it would just be a shame if he injures his thumb again and potentially makes the injury worse in the process, perhaps even season-ending. But Aldridge has been playing in the NBA a long time and obviously the Trail Blazers value his judgment and what he can provide for them. It is definitely a roll of the dice move, and it will be interesting to see if Aldridge can hold up for the rest of the season and continue to play at the stellar level he has played at so far this season.

Dan Schultz is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.

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