From ESPN:
Popovich also revealed that Aldridge requested a trade last summer after a rough season. The coach talked the star big man out of his feelings after a few dinners and meetings. "I was very candid with him," Popovich said. "I told him, `I'd be happy to trade you. You get me a talent like Kevin Durant, and I'll drive you to the airport. I'll pack your bags. And I will drive you there, get you on the plane and get you seated.' He laughed, (and) I said, `But short of that, I'm your best buddy, because you're here for another year, and you ain't going nowhere. Because we're not going to get for you talent-wise what we would want, so let's figure this thing out.' And we did."
Interesting.
Incidentally, due to all of the injuries they've dealt with this year, most notably Kawhi Leonard who just can't seem to recover, Aldrridge has been an incredibly important piece preventing a complete Spurs collapse.
Even at full strength, though, this team isn't beating the Warriors in the playoffs.
Maybe a healthy Houston can do it -- especially if the Warriors lose players due to their own injury issues -- but not the Spurs.
And speaking of that, what about Curry's ankle? This has been dogging him his whole career. I do wonder if his brilliant career is going to be cut short, with the ankle perhaps forcing an unexpectedly early retirement. It's not going to happen yet, but I could see him ending things a lot sooner than people might think.