LaMarcus Aldridge Moves Lakers Up On List
- Updated: June 25, 2015
(Photo via Twitter User @RealGM)
According to reports close to the Portland Trailblazer, LaMarcus Aldridge is 99.9% sure he wants out of Portland. He has played in a TrailBlazers uniform since entering the league in 2006.
The source says Aldridge doesn’t believe that the teams can attract top free agents to improve the team. He also, reportedly, feels “somewhat under appreciated by the organization” and more than anything he is simply looking for a new environment to live in.
Aldridge is considering the following teams to make the jump to: San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks. The source did, however, tell Marc Stein of ESPN that he is strongly favoring a free-agent jump to the Lakers. And a Lakers source confirmed to Stein that they are indeed now on the hunt for the acquisition of Aldridge.
The Lakers are said to have been able to push past the Dallas Mavericks on the All-Stars list. Their availablity (as well as the Knicks) will depend on who the teams pick tonight in the draft, or trade for, or who they sign in free-agents.
This is a tricky one, however, because other sources close to the situation believe the Spurs are the most likely team to land the player.
“He has tons of respect for coach [Gregg] Popovich,” one source told Broussard. “And he thinks highly of their organization and front office.”
Chris Brussard of ESPN confirms that LaMarcus Aldridge lives in LA area during his offseason and he has been in town all week.
ESPN.com reported earlier in the week that the TrailBlazers are looking to make a push for Kevin Love after he opted out of the final year of his contract yesterday, should Aldridge leave them.
ESPN writes the following on the situation:
“The Blazers created an additional $4 million of potential salary-cap space by shipping Batum to Charlotte for Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh and have been well set up by general manager Neil Olshey to have the flexibility to go in a variety of directions if they need to respond to an Aldridge defection.
Sources told Stein that Portland plans to be very aggressive in July in trying to persuade star guard Damian Lillard to commit to a five-year max extension in the $120 million range. “
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