LaMarcus Aldridge's $24M Salary Guaranteed by Spurs for 2020-21 Season

The San Antonio Spurs have fully guaranteed forward LaMarcus Aldridge's $24 million salary for the 2020-21 season, agent Jeff Schwartz told Marc Stein of the New York Times on Wednesday.

Previously, only $7 million had been guaranteed, with the remaining $17 million becoming fully guaranteed if he was not waived prior to June 29, according to Spotrac.

Aldridge initially signed with San Antonio in 2015 on a four-year max contract. He later agreed to a two-year, $50 million extension in October 2017.

From the Spurs perspective, locking Aldridge into the team's plans for 2020-21 makes sense, given his recent performance. He is coming off a 2018-19 campaign that saw him average 21.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

It also marked the third time in his career that he played in 81 games in a single season.

Though he just turned 34 years old in July, there aren't many concerns about the 6'11", 260-pound big man for San Antonio at this point. He has averaged 20.0 points and 8.4 rebounds during his Spurs career, and he has missed just 26 games in four years with the team.

And he showed no signs of slowing down during the preseason:

Meanwhile, he has helped the franchise extend its streak of reaching the postseason to 22 consecutive seasons.

Keeping Aldridge for the 2020-21 season could loom large, as four-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan faces an uncertain future in San Antonio. DeRozan holds a $27.7 million player option for next season. Rudy Gay and Patty Mills are each signed through 2021, per Basketball Reference.