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Suns 5-On-5: Can Phoenix Steal Away LaMarcus Aldridge?

By Jeffrey Sanders

Mar 30, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) shoots over Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (21) at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 30, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) shoots over Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (21) at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 27, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) celebrates with guard Damian Lillard (0) after making a basket against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at US Airways Center. The Trail Blazers won the game 87-81. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 27, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) celebrates with guard Damian Lillard (0) after making a basket against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at US Airways Center. The Trail Blazers won the game 87-81. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

3. If Aldridge signs with the Suns, how does that change the outlook for next season?

Bourguet:  It means it’s time for this team to take that next step forward and get back into the postseason. That’s the goal regardless, but the 2015-16 season looks like it’ll be geared more toward internal development with the roster the way that it is. But if the Suns somehow land Aldridge and re-sign Brandon Knight, they’re all in for a run at the playoffs.

Chasen:  Well for starters, I think that would make the Suns a sure-fire playoff team. I don’t think the Suns would become title contenders, but the idea of the Morris Bros. leading the second unit actually sounds pretty awesome. Aldridge would instantly be the Suns’ best player, and he’d also provide a bit of a veteran presence, which the team lacked last year.

Hann:  It changes EVERYTHING. You can do a WHOLE lot worse than Alex Len, Aldridge, Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, Brandon Knight and (maybe?) Eric Bledsoe as your franchise’s core moving forward. That’s the future. However, the effects would be heavily felt just this coming season. The Suns would undoubtedly become a playoff team out in the West, with the potential to win a series depending on their first round matchup.

Sanders:  It turns the Suns into a playoff team. Aldridge would give Planet Orange the star power that they desperately need and a horse they can ride down the stretch of games. If the Suns can pull off the unlikely, it would change the course of this franchise.

Harris:  This would make the Suns a playoff team, but not by a huge margin. With Aldridge on the Suns, Phoenix would narrowly make its way to the seventh or eighth spot, and promptly lose in the first round to a title contender. However, for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010, any playoff berth in the West would make Aldridge a worthy acquisition.

Next: No. 4

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