The Los Angeles Lakers came into free agency with high hopes of landing LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency. Unfortunately, that will not happen as it has been revealed that Aldridge will not join the Lakers.
— Have you seen the ‘Bleed Purple and Gold’ phone case? —
Among a number of possibilities for Aldridge spurning the Lakers, Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reports thats Aldridge and Kobe ‘didn’t gel’ in the meeting:
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
Bresnahan also added that Kobe told Aldridge that he envisioned him in a role similar to that of Pau Gasol when he was with the team:
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
This will surely not be a good look for Kobe as he already has a reputation as someone players don’t want to play with. His role in the Dwight Howard interview has been spoken about numerous times and this may have hurt the Lakers chances as well.
Regardless of the reasons, Aldridge will not be coming to the Lakers so the Lakers must move on to the next player. Greg Monroe and DeAndre Jordan are still in play. Other lesser known players such as Tobias Harris could also be targeted by the Lakers in the coming days.
[divide]