"99.9% Chance that LaMarcus Aldridge Leaves Portland"

Earlier this evening we brought you a story by ESPN's Marc Stein stating that Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge was "likely" to leave Portland.

In the wee hours of the morning, Stein and ESPN updated that same article with shocking new claims.

LaMarcus Aldridge is not expected to re-sign with the Portland Trail Blazers, several people close to the All-Star forward told ESPN's Chris Broussard.

And Wednesday's trade of forward Nicolas Batum was an indication, league sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein, of Portland's growing belief that Aldridge is poised to leave in free agency.

"He's gone," a source close to Aldridge said. "There's a 99.9 percent chance that he's out of Portland."

The sources listed several reasons Aldridge is expected to leave the Blazers, for whom he has played since entering the league in 2006. They said he doesn't believe the Blazers can attract top free agents to improve the team, that he feels somewhat underappreciated by the organization and that he simply is looking for a new environment to live in.

This is a major shift to the story, going well beyond one writer's speculation. It's interesting that ESPN chose to edit a current story which originally had significantly different focus to include this information. Be that as it may, this does not bode well for those hoping for Aldridge to remain in the Rose City.

Hat tip to JonathanPDX who first noticed the update to the story and brought it to our attention.