Come July 1st, LaMarcus Aldridge will be available in the free agency market. Even though it’s been previously suspected that the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs would be his top picks due to Texas being his home state; according to sources, the Los Angeles Lakers have jumped to the top spot on his list.
ESPN sources say Lakers appear to be passing Dallas on list of likely destinations for Aldridge should he leave POR. San Antonio still No. 1
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 25, 2015
It seems that there’s no doubt that Aldridge won’t be returning to Portland and according to Marc Stein and Chris Broussard, Portland feels they don’t have a shot at keeping the star forward:
“He’s gone,” a source close to Aldridge said. “There’s a 99.9 percent chance that he’s out of Portland.”
The sources listed several reasons Aldridge is expected to leave the Blazers, for whom he has played since entering the league in 2006. They said he doesn’t believe the Blazers can attract top free agents to improve the team, that he feels somewhat underappreciated by the organization and that he simply is looking for a new environment to live in.
Sources told Stein that the Blazers have been pressing for more concrete signals from Aldridge’s camp about his plans before the July 1 start of free agency and are increasingly fearful they have little chance of retaining the All-Star big man once he hits the open market.
With the Trail Blazers shipping off Nicolas Baturm and receiving Noah Vonleh and Gerald Henderson, it seems like they are already looking to fill the void of Aldridge. Things could be completely different in Portland next year. Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez are both unrestricted free agents this year and if they don’t see offers on the table that fill their needs, then Rip City could be looking at losing even more players.
LaMarcus Aldridge could be the big move that the Los Angeles Lakers need this offseason. Coming off of one of the worst seasons in franchise history, they are in desperate need of a big name player. There have been recent talks of Los Angeles being in trade talks with the Sacramento Kings for DeMarcus Cousins, and even having mutual interest with guard, Dwyane Wade. Even though nothing has been finalized yet, it seems management is doing whatever they can to turn things around in Hollywood.
