Phoenix Suns are recycling giant LaMarcus Aldridge welcome poster
By Josh Hill
The Phoenix Suns made a hard run at LaMarcus Aldridge and failed — and now they have to clean up the welcome parade that will never happen.
When the Phoenix Suns suddenly thrust themselves to the forefront of the LaMarcus Aldridge sweepstakes, it was starting to look like they might have a chance to sign him. In fact, Phoenix was so convinced they were going to sign Aldridge that they traded away one of the Morris Twins to clear cap space.
The Suns had everyone thinking they were going to land Aldridge, even city officials.
On Friday, Mayor Greg Stanton showed off the welcome banner the Suns were going to roll out if Aldridge decided to sign with the Suns.
Hey @aldridge_12, check out what we’re dropping in Downtown PHX tomorrow! #WeArePHX #LMAtoPHX pic.twitter.com/963VFHu6QC
— Greg Stanton (@gregstantonaz) July 4, 2015
Phoenix went all out to impress Aldridge and convince him to sign with them. As it turns out, he didn’t sign with them and instead chose to go with the San Antonio Spurs as his team of the future. That left the Suns in a sad position of cleaning up a welcome parade that was never thrown.
It’s all good though, as Mayor Stanton had a witty retort to those harping him about the welcome banner that is now pointless.
For those inquiring about the future of the #LMA banner...Our city has one of the best recycling programs in the country.
— Greg Stanton (@gregstantonaz) July 4, 2015
While the mayor may be in a joking mood over losing out on Aldridge, the Suns aren’t laughing. They traded away big pieces of their roster to clear cap space to sign the veteran forward and now need to find players to fill those holes.