The Lakers have met with the most coveted player in the free agent market, LaMarcus Aldridge. The meeting took about two hours and initial reports indicate that it went very well. Unfortunately, the pitch was not good enough to convince Aldridge to cancel the rest of his meeting and agree with the Lakers.
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Mitch Kupchak has to move forward and hope that they did enough to convince Aldridge. Time is of the essence, so the Lakers are already headed across the country to meet with another free agent big man.
According to Bill Oram of the OC Register, the Lakers are on their way to Washington DC to meet with Greg Monroe:
Lakers execs, including Mitch Kupchak and Byron Scott, on plane now to meet Greg Monroe in DC. Then back to LA to meet w/ DeAndre Jordan.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) July 1, 2015
Monroe is not the Lakers’ first choice, but he’s still a very good player. Monroe averaged 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game last season. Any team would be happy to add a guy who can average a double-double.
Monroe is not known for his defense and is not much of a rim protector, which is what the Lakers need, but he’s still somebody they should consider. He is likely going to require close to a max contract, so it will be interesting to see if the Lakers will be willing to spend the money.
At 25 years old, Monroe still has time to develop into a force in the paint. Should the Lakers take a chance on Monroe? If the Lakers can’t sign Aldridge or DeAndre Jordan, Monroe suddenly becomes the most attractive free agent big man in the market.