Lakers Rumors: Aldridge Will Not Sign With Lakers
LaMarcus Aldridge was always a longshot. He’s nearing 30 and probably was always going to be more interested in a team that could offer a better opportunity to win.
Related: Who is the best free agent for the Lakers?
This, via the L.A. Times’ Mike Bresnahan:
LaMarcus Aldridge will not be joining the Lakers, The Times has learned. They were a 50-50 choice but he disliked bball part of presentation
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 1, 2015
If that wasn’t enough, Bresnahan also added this about the shortcomings of the Lakers’ presentation:
More LMA: He and Kobe didn't quite gel. It's a little vague, but Aldridge apparently didn't quite get answers from Kobe he was seeking.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 1, 2015
Of course, the comment on Kobe was taken and ran with by the idiots on Twitter who look for any opportunity to stick one to the Lakers, and by extension, Bryant.
Sure, let’s ignore Aldridge’s age and where the Lakers currently stand. Sure, let’s also ignore that regardless of whomever he chooses between the Spurs and Suns, he’s stepping into playoff and even title contention. Yeah, that TOTALLY wasn’t an issue.
Now, Bresnahan did add this, which actuall holds weight in this conversation:
Aldridge was floored in a good way by Houston's analytics, on-court projections in their presentation. Not so with the Lakers.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 1, 2015
The Lakers’ ideologies toward the game are antiquated. They tend to overlook the important of analytics and have become the slowest to make any major change across the organization to catch up with the rest of the league.
That’s is a much larger issue than Kobe Bryant’s issue. Kobe will retire at season’s end. Unless a major shift in thinking doesn’t occur, all the Lakers problems won’t retire with him, contrary to the aforementioned twitter idiots.