As the Nets deal with LaMarcus Aldridge’s generally very concise residency being stopped when he resigned in light of a sporadic heartbeat, their first considerations are for his wellbeing — and that the circumstance might have been more terrible. Far more terrible.
In any case, as the games continue to come (the Nets facilitated the Hornets on Friday night), their musings should go to the unavoidable inquiry: What’s next?
“It’s a sad situation,” mentor Steve Nash said. “In particular, however, he kept away from an awful circumstance.
“You feel sad for him that he’s not playing, but you feel happy that he made a sound decision and is comfortable with his decision and that he can be healthy and have a great life with his family. That’s more important than basketball. So, we really just are grateful for his time here, but are grateful that he’s at home with his family and that he can decide what’s next for him.”
What’s next for the Nets is they’ll out of nowhere need to push ahead without him.
Aldridge — who was determined to have Wolff-Parkinson-White disorder as a new kid on the block in 2007, and went through different cardiovascular removals — felt an unpredictable heartbeat on April 10 and resigned Thursday.
“I feel for LaMarcus. This clearly was not a simple choice for him,” said head supervisor Sean Marks in his first remarks to the Nets’ beat correspondents since the January bargain for James Harden.
Aldridge had begun five straight games and displaced DeAndre Jordan in the arrangement. The Nets began Nic Claxton on Tuesday at Minnesota and went with Jordan on Wednesday in Philadelphia and again Friday. Jeff Green has likewise begun for the Nets, while Blake Griffin has played some little ball five.
Hope to see seriously blending and coordinating.
“It’s more matchup-based for us,” Nash said. “I don’t think it makes sense to just pencil something in if the matchups aren’t more favorable for us. When you look at our fives — DJ, Nic, Blake [Griffin], Jeff — they all bring something different. They all have a different profile.
“That’s to our advantage to mix and match on a night-to-night matchup basis. It gives us what could be a perceived advantage or the lesser of two evils when you face some superstars. That’s probably the way we approach things continually.”
While Jordan hasn’t addressed the media since March 13 and has declined twelve interview demands, Nash called the middle “an increa great teammate” by they way he dealt with losing his beginning spot.
“DJ has been great,” Nash said. “I asked him to be patient with me. I didn’t say, ‘This is it. You’re not playing anymore.’ Because something always comes up.”
Nash was demonstrated perceptive, with Jordan beginning the previous two games. The Nets are required to defer Aldridge and fill that list spot, however Marks inferred they’d prefer to get some harmed players back prior to choosing where to add.
“We’ll look at every alternative and everybody out there. Losing a player like LaMarcus is without a doubt a blow to us,” Marks said. “It’s a quandary. You can’t replace LaMarcus. You’re not going to find another LaMarcus just sitting out there.
“Once James [Harden] gets back into the fold, Kevin [Durant’s] minutes come back up and we get a couple of other guys healthy, then we’ll have a better idea of what we need. I don’t think it’s set in stone that we have to go one way or another, a big or a guard. We’ll look at where our needs are over the next week and make that determination.”
Regardless of whether Aldridge never again puts on a Nets uniform, they trust he’ll rejoin them sometime in the not so distant future, in the storage space, at training, any place and at whatever point.
“He had conversations with the guys via phone,” Marks said. “He’s always welcome to be around. What he’s done over the course of his career, just from an IQ standpoint he can help and we can obviously benefit from having him in the locker room and around. The door’s 100 percent open for him whenever he wants.
“He’s seeing some specialists right now, and the priority is for him to really take advantage of this time and prioritize his health over anything else. When he’s available, yes we’ll welcome him back and hopefully he’ll come around.”
