Report: Blazers players concerned Aldridge will leave Portland

It's been a rough month of April for the Portland Trail Blazers. The banged-up team lost six of its last nine regular-season games and was then pounded Sunday night in its playoff opener against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Still, it feels a little early for dread about offseason free-agent departures.

According to Jason Quick of The Oregonian, however, some Trail Blazers are concerned that franchise power forward LaMarcus Aldridge will use his status as one of this summer's premium unrestricted free agents to bolt Portland.

Quick wrote Sunday that one Blazer teammate recently put the chances of Aldridge staying in Portland at only 50-50.

The report sounds at odds with what Aldridge has said publicly to this point. Last July, he said he wanted to play his entire career in Portland and retire as "the best Blazer ever." 

However, public statements frequently must be taken with a grain of salt, and Grantland's Zach Lowe reported in January that Aldridge could be lured to the Spurs if Tim Duncan chooses to retire. 

Aldridge, 29, is a Texas native.

Quick, who covers the Blazers as a columnist, believes Aldridge's motivations aren't purely financial:

But one Blazers player cautioned that Aldridge already has enough money. Happiness is what he is truly seeking, and that could be found in being closer to family in Texas.

It's the tricky thing about Aldridge. No one ever really knows where he stands. He is fickle. Moody. And unpredictable.

Following the Game 1 loss, Aldridge certainly wasn't a happy man.

The four-time All-Star notched a game-high 32 points and 14 rebounds, but shot 13-of-34 and only got to the foul line five times.