The San Antonio Spurs not only inked Danny Green to a long-term contract (although it doesn’t become official until July 9) recently, but they also traded Tiago Splitter to make cap room for LaMarcus Aldridge. This makes Aldridge signing with the Spurs a no-brainer, and we should see him make a choice quickly after he is done with his meetings.

Spurs are walking into the LaMarcus Aldridge meeting right now, armed with Danny Green, cap space and frontrunner status on luring Aldridge.

Advertisement

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2015

The soon-to-be-former Portland Trail Blazers PF would be a fool to pass on playing with Tim Duncan, and Aldridge might even convince head coach Gregg Popovich to delay retirement a bit longer. I think Pops will go out with Duncan in the end, but Aldridge signing might cast some doubt into that decision-making process.

The Blazers are in for a tough season. It doesn’t even matter that Damian Lillard will be locked up for five more years, because he will have no one to play off of in pick-and-roll situations. I don’t see them making the playoffs next season, and this could be the beginning of a downward spiral for that franchise.

As for the Spurs, if they can land Aldridge while keeping the rest of their core intact, then this team is set up to contend for the next five years. San Antonio is a world-class organization, and they are about to prove it by signing the best free agent available this summer.

The only thing that could stop this from happening is if Aldridge goes brain-dead for the next few days, because he would be a dolt to pass on playing with the Spurs.

Dave Daniels is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter: @AllDave_AllDay, like him on Facebook here or add him to your network on Google.