Kawhi Leonard's saga has been perhaps one of the most intriguing storylines during this NBA season. Those who still hold faith in the San Antonio Spurs' reputation of solving issues internally would point to LaMarcus Aldridge, who reportedly was ready to ask for a trade after being mis-utilized by coach Gregg Popovich during his first two years with the team.

The Texas native apparently was hoping to land back in his old stomping grounds, reaching out to former teammate Damian Lillard in hopes to make his way back to Rip City.

via Ken Berger of Bleacher Report:

Last season, a deep rift developed between the team and All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, to the point where Aldridge called former teammate Damian Lillard and asked him to approach general manager Neil Olshey about bringing Aldridge back to Portland, a person familiar with the conversation told B/R.

“You can never say done because everybody thought that the Aldridge thing was over and that there was no chance to salvage that,” one of the people said. “Pop went in and smoothed it over. You can't underestimate the power of the Pop in these situations.”

Popovich obviously solved the situation, granting Aldridge a much bigger role in the offense, which was of course, aided by Leonard's absence this season.

The result? Aldridge's best season as a Spur and a renewed sense of belonging with this franchise.

A reunion between Lillard and Aldridge, both at more mature stages of their careers would have been awesome to witness, but the pieces didn't fall that way during the offseason.

As far as Leonard is concerned, the issues between his management team and the Spurs organization could be a whole other story…