There are rumors that the San Antonio Spurs could trade LaMarcus Aldridge by midseason if the All-Star power forward does not perform up to expectations as the team prefers to build around rising star Kawhi Leonard.

With the retirement of Spurs cornerstone Tim Duncan at the end of last season, a lot of pressure is placed on the shoulders of the 31-year-old Aldridge, who is seen as the team's next franchise big man.

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Although Duncan ha retired, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is still not planning to move to a small-ball type of system. Popovich apparently intends to rely on Aldridge to fill-in the role that the five-time NBA champion power forward had been playing for the Spurs all these years.

However, if Aldridge fails to deliver, then it would not be surprising to see his name on San Antonio's trading block in or before next year's February deadline.

Sportsrageous noted that with Aldridge six years older than Leonard, the Spurs are favoring the younger player to be the focal point of the team.

There are speculations that San Antonio may opt to go younger by trading Aldridge to a team that has a surplus of young talents, such as the Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, or the Los Angeles Lakers. Younger players could grow with Leonard for the team to become title contenders again in the future, but Aldridge is more of a "win-now" option.

Aldridge's trade value is at its highest at the moment and will only decline as he gets older. He is also set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2017-2018 season and so the perfect time to trade him and get a maximum return would be soonest, according to ESPN.

A team led by an Aldridge-Leonard combo can contend in the West, but it is deemed not enough to dethrone the Golden State Warriors, who have gotten even stronger this summer.

Perhaps, preparing for the future would be better for the Spurs in the long run.

TagsNBA Trade Rumors, NBA Trade Rumors 2016, LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi Leonard