Lakers Rumors: Aldridge Leaning Toward LA, Meeting Set
By Alex Torres
It’s not even July yet and the rumors keep piling up. This is a very important off-season for the Lakers. While they won’t be competing for a championship next season, it’s important for them to have the pieces in place to continue luring free agents to Los Angeles.
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The Lakers have a young core of promising players and an aging Kobe Bryant, but they need some more help, especially in the front line. The Lakers need some veteran players they can plug-in and hopefully make this team a playoff contender.
LaMarcus Aldridge has been a popular name linked to the Lakers recently, but most still believed the Spurs were the leader to land the All-Star big man. According to Ben Bolch of the LA Times, Aldridge might be leaning towards signing with the Lakers:
Heard that LaMarcus Aldridge was leaning toward Lakers, a sign that their brand is not only back but never went away despite appearances.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) June 30, 2015
With the current roster in place, it’s safe to assume that the Lakers will be a much better team than the squad we saw last season. The addition of Aldridge would help the Lakers speed up the rebuilding process and hopefully make them a playoff team.
Is Aldridge willing to come to LA knowing it ‘s going to take a year or two for them to build a championship contender? The Spurs can offer him a chance to win now and that could be a problem for the Lakers. However, the Lakers have always been willing to spend and make the moves to chase a title, so that should be included in their sales pitch.
The Lakers will meet with Aldridge as soon as free agency starts, per Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times:
The Lakers are moving quickly, will meet with LaMarcus Aldridge immediately after free agency begins Tuesday at 9:01 pm.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) June 30, 2015
Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers will get to talk to Aldridge first, which is a good thing for the purple and gold. They will be able to gauge his interest in actually joining Kobe Bryant and company. If they feel he has his heart else where, they can move on knowing they gave it a shot.
These last two off-seasons have been surprising and demoralizing. We’ve been spoiled as Laker fans because this franchise usually gets what it wants, but that simply has not been the case these last two years. The addition of Aldridge would give this franchise and fan base confidence and more importantly, hope.