Lakers Rumors: LaMarcus Aldridge Tells Portland He’s Leaving
By Alex Torres
The Lakers have been involved in several rumors in the last 48 hours. It started with the Lakers pursuing a trade to acquire DeMarcus Cousins. Shortly after that was announced, Marc Stein of ESPN reported that the Lakers were moving up on LaMarcus Aldridge’s list of potential places to play next season.
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When Stein’s report first came out, he was clear that Aldridge could still stay in Portland, but that’s changed in less than 24 hours.
"According to Erik Gundersen of the Columbian, Aldridge has notified the Portland Trail Blazers that he will not be back next season, which opens the door for the Lakers:A Western Conference executive with knowledge of the Aldridge pursuit has told The Columbian that the free-agent has already informed the Blazers that he will not return to the Northwest.Free-agency is set to begin on July 1 but the Blazers have wasted no time in re-tooling their roster for life after Aldridge.Another league executive told The Columbian on Wednesday that the trade of Batum looked like “a rebuilding move,” and league sources say that the Blazers are “not done” dealing."
The Lakers didn’t believe they had a shot at landing Aldridge, but now that he is leaving Portland, they will need to battle the San Antonio Spurs. Aldridge is from Texas, so it might be difficult for the Lakers to convince him to not head to his home state.
The Lakers will throw max money at him, but the Spurs are built to win now, which is why it’s still difficult to see Aldridge end up with the purple and gold. The fact that he is considering the Lakers should be taken as a good sign of things to come in free agency.
It all start with the Lakers making their selection tonight and in a few days free agency starts. How hard will the Lakers pursue Aldridge? Will they be able to beat out the Spurs? We will have to wait and see, but it’s definitely exciting.