San Antonio Spurs ‘mutually agree’ to part ways with LaMarcus Aldridge

LaMarcus Aldridge has been a loyal servant to San Antonio but the Spurs have made a bold call to part ways with the NBA veteran.

The San Antonio Spurs have “mutually agreed” with LaMarcus Aldridge to try to find a new NBA home for the veteran forward, coach Gregg Popovich said on Thursday (AEDT).

Popovich confirmed that Aldridge was healthy but not with the team as they began the second half of the NBA season with a game against the Mavericks in Dallas.

Watch Live coverage every week of the NBA Regular Season with ESPN on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

“LaMarcus is not with the team,” Popovich said before the game. “He’s healthy, in that respect, but we’ve mutually agreed to work out some opportunities with him that will be elsewhere.

“He’s been a great teammate, there was no problem there,” Popovich added. “We just think this is a win-win for both LaMarcus and for the club.

“So when the opportunity arises — that’ll be up to management, his agent, that sort of thing — we’ll all move forward.”

Seven-time All-Star Aldridge, 35, has been with the Spurs for six seasons. He has missed a significant amount of time this campaign with injury and came off the bench in his return to action in February.

Meanwhile, Jakob Poeltl established himself as a strong defensive presence, leading to speculation that Aldridge — on a $31 million salary — would be ready to move on in the last year of his contract.

“He’s done everything we asked,” Popovich said. “We’d just like to do something that will work for him as much as for our club, because he deserves that.”

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Spurs are already working on several trade options for Aldridge and may come to a deal as early as next week.

However, if no deal is reached before the trade deadline expires on March 25, other teams may look at recruiting Aldridge as a free agent.

Aldridge (left) is waving goodbye to San Antonio.

With AFP