LaMarcus Aldridge Turned Off With LA Lakers Pitch; Houston Rockets And San Antonio Spurs Frontrunners To Acquire All-Star
In an unexpected turn of events, the Los Angeles Lakers is now out of the conversation as LaMarcus Aldridge's new landing spot. After their meeting last Wednesday, Aldridge was reportedly not impressed with the Laker's pitch.
Upon hearing the news, the Los Angeles Lakers were stunned as they believed the team and Aldridge had a productive meeting.
Lakers are "stunned" to hear how coolly their presentation was received by LMA. I spoke to 3-4 folks last night who felt good about it.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 1, 2015
According to reports, LaMarcus Aldridge was said to be turned off with the Lakers' approach to basketball. There were no clear indications on how he will be utilized as per Mike Brehasnan.
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
Furthermore, when Kobe Bryant took the floor, he spoke for three minutes and he said that the role he sees fit for Aldridge is as his back-up, much like Pau Gasol.
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
Kobe spoke for about three minutes in the presentation, said he envisioned LaMarcus Aldridge working with him the same way Pau Gasol did. — Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 1, 2015
With that said, Aldridge is now focusing his attention to other teams where he sees a better fit like the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs.
As per Bresnahan via Yahoo Sports: "Aldridge considered the Lakers to be part of a 'two-horse race' with the San Antonio Spurs and "wanted to be wowed" but was actually turned off by the lack of analytics on the basketball side of their presentation, according to the person."
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
