UPDATE (July 2, 2015 at 1:26 PM PST): According to Sam Amick of USA TODAY, the second meeting between LaMarcus Aldridge and the Los Angeles Lakers will focus on basketball:
LaMarcus Alrdige's second meeting with the Lakers, I'm told, will focus on just talking basketball with Mitch Kupchak and Byron Scott.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 2, 2015
LaMarcus Aldridge has reportedly crossed the Los Angeles Lakers off of his free agency wish list. His agents, however have denied that report and Aldridge is still going through meetings and may look to do a second round with certain teams.
— Have you seen the ‘Bleed Purple and Gold’ phone case? —
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Lakers have secured a second meeting with Aldridge:
The Lakers will get a second meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge today in Los Angeles, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 2, 2015
This is a surprising development as it was believed that the Lakers were out of the running completely. Wojnarowski also notes that the Lakers want to see if ‘they can get it right’:
One source briefed on the Lakers second meeting with Aldridge told Yahoo Sports: "They want to see if they can get it right."
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 2, 2015
The chances of the Lakers actually landing Aldridge still seem slim at this point, but the fact that Aldridge would even give them a second chance would seem to show that there is some interest there.
The first meeting reportedly focused too much on outside opportunities and not enough about the current on-court product. The Lakers have mostly young, unproven talent at this point which when stacked up to the likes of the San Antonio Spurs, simply doesn’t match up.
Nonetheless, it looks as if the Lakers will get another chance to impress Aldridge. Free agency has not gone well for the team right now, but there still seems to be a little hope that the Lakers can make it right.
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