Photo: Tom Reel /San Antonio Express-News Photo: Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News Photo: Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News

HOUSTON — The meeting was by all accounts cordial.

Sometime over the summer LaMarcus Aldridge sat down with coach Gregg Popovich to discuss his place in the Spurs’ system, his fit on the floor and what he might do to be more useful to the team set to pay him nearly $21.5 million this season.

Popovich listened. And he nodded.

“His concerns are totally legitimate,” Popovich said. “We have got to help him a little bit more so that he is comfortable offensively, and I haven’t done a very good job of that.”

It turns out Aldridge needed what many people in a relationship on the cusp of fracture often need.

His space.

Throughout the Spurs’ preseason, which concludes Friday in Houston, Popovich has modified his system to get Aldridge the ball more often and with enough room to operate.

The subtle shift has earned rave reviews from the erstwhile All-Star power forward.

“I feel really comfortable right now, and I think Pop has made some tweaks to help me feel more comfortable,” said the 32-year-old Aldridge, who is entering his third season in San Antonio. “I think it all goes to him. He’s made some different looks where I can touch it in different spots, and it’s been helping out.”

The getting of Aldridge’s groove back has been the most heartening sign of the Spurs’ 2-2 preseason.

In four exhibition games, he is averaging a team-leading 16 points while hitting 57.4 percent of his shots. In what has been a renewed point of emphasis, Aldridge has made a respectable 3 of 8 from 3-point range.

He has also begun to develop chemistry with center Pau Gasol in the Spurs’ high-low attack.

“The idea is always the same,” guard Manu Ginobili said. “If we see him there and in good position, we just give him the ball. He has more determination to be a factor.”

Among Aldridge’s teammates, there has been an added focus on finding the big man touches early in a game. In Tuesday’s loss to Orlando, Aldridge scored 11 of his 16 points in the first quarter.

“He’s one of those guys that needs those early touches to get a feel for the ball, get a feel for the game, and just confidence-wise,” guard Danny Green said. “He can kind of tell from his first couple touches, his first couple shots, how the game is going to go.”

The last time Aldridge stepped foot in the Toyota Center, he was a monster.

The Spurs headed to Houston up 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals last May, but were without Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker for the closeout game.

They rode Aldridge, whose 34 points and 12 rebounds helped send the Rockets home in blowout fashion, 114-75.

Aldridge was less effective when Leonard went down again in the conference finals against Golden State, averaging 15.5 points and shooting 41.3 percent as the Spurs got swept.

Despite Aldridge’s strong preseason, Ginobili said the changes the Spurs have made for him have been minimal.

“I truly don’t see any difference in the way we approach him or he approaches us,” Ginobili said. “I see him as an unbelievable player, a guy we’ve got to feed and we’ve got to keep happy. Because if we want to make it that far, we need him playing his best.”

Aldridge has been the Spurs’ best player throughout the preseason, and therein lies the rub.

Leonard has missed the entire exhibition schedule with tendinopathy in his right quadriceps. How Aldridge adjusts once the Spurs’ All-Star small forward returns is the cornrowed elephant in the room.

Leonard owned a usage rate of 31.7 percent last season en route to his third-place MVP finish. That ranked seventh in the NBA.

Leonard attempted 17.7 shots per game, low for a superstar player but by far the most on the Spurs.

When Leonard comes back, those early touches Aldridge likes might not be there. His overall attempts are all but assured to diminish.

How can the Spurs balance Aldridge’s need to find a rhythm with Leonard’s uncanny ability to take over games by himself with the ball in his hands?

“That’s why I’m not a coach,” Green said. “That’s Pop’s job. He gets paid the big bucks to figure that out. But I’m sure he will find a way for everybody to be satisfied, happy and get in a rhythm.”

There will be time for that later. Eighty-two games, to be exact.

For now, Popovich has been pleased with how Aldridge has approached the preseason.

“He’s played real loose, especially on offense,” Popovich said. “He looks real comfortable. He’s having a really good beginning.”

For Aldridge, the next and more difficult task is making that good beginning last.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN