After watching LaMarcus Aldridge go to town on the Houston Rockets front line *points to Dwight Howard mainly and Terrence Jones* to the tune of 46 points and 18 rebounds. It made me remember what a steal he was for the Trail Blazers. You know they shouldn’t even have Aldridge?
Back in the ’06 NBA Draft the Chicago Bulls had the 2nd pick and selected Aldridge. It was a very solid pick up it seemed, but within minutes they traded Aldridge for high flying freshman forward Tyrus Thomas who was the 4th pick of the draft by the Trail Blazers and forward Viktor Khryapa.
Hindsight being 20/20, the Bulls have to be kicking themselves in the a double s because Thomas isn’t with the team anymore and barely a rotation player, only god knows or cares where Khryapa is and Aldridge is arguably the best power forward in the NBA. I said arguably and I believe he’s the best, but I will save that argument for another day.
The Bulls lived in the moment making that deal being that Thomas was a star on LSU that made a Final Four run in the NCAA tournament while paired up with Glen Davis. Thomas was very raw and seemed to be an unfinished product with a lot of our favorite word “potential”. While Aldridge showed a lot of skill in his game, but wasn’t a finished product himself.
The Bulls sure could use Aldridge in the present and the Blazers couldn’t be happier to have him. Going back in time maybe trading Aldridge allowed them to get Derrick Rose in ‘08, but maybe they would’ve been in the same position with Aldridge. Nobody knows the answer to that question for sure, but the Bulls have to be depressed that they didn’t allow themselves the chance to see if it would’ve happened. Every Carlos Boozer disappearing act has to make all Bulls fans cry. You guys let one of the best forwards go for practically nothing. Talking about getting a bad return on your investment, sorry Tyrus Thomas, but you will always be the guy the Bulls mistakenly traded for to let Aldridge escape from the windy city.
