Teams normally believe that their meetings with potential free agents go “very well”, so take this with a grain of salt.
The face-to-face session lasted two hours and went “really well,” reported ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Shelburne writes:
The Lakers, sources added, firmly believe they will now be in the Aldridge hunt. And there is a rising sentiment, sources said, that the Lakers have edged past the Mavericks on Aldridge’s wish list even though he was a high school star in Dallas.
Aldridge is said to have met with the Houston Rockets immediately after the Lakers (a seemingly tough act to follow), and the rest of his meetings are set for reasonable hours Wednesday. The New York Knicks have the final meeting on Thursday, and the chances of Aldridge staying with the Portland Trail Blazers are “very unlikely,” according to ESPN.
As for who exactly was in attendance for the Lakers,
The familiar attendees included Lakers guard Bryant, president Jeanie Buss, general manager Mitch Kupchak, executive Jim Buss, coach Byron Scott and former Lakers forward James Worthy, according to a league source familiar with the Lakers’ plans. Lakers assistant general manager Glenn Carraro, senior vice president of business operations Tim Harris, team publicist John Black and representatives from Time Warner Cable SportsNet and AEG also attended, according to the league source.
The Trail Blazers seem to have all but officially lost their star big man. Aldridge’s meeting with the Lakers came just a minute after free agency commenced, leading many to believe that L.A. is the front-runner.
San Antonio, however, presents an interesting landing spot for the Texas native – especially given the fact that Kawhi Leonard is now officially locked up.
A 29-year old center who just averaged 24 and 10 is sure to have a multitude of suitors in the league. There’s no way of telling where he’ll end up now, given that he still has 6 meeting lined up.
But either way, keep it locked here for all of your free agency updates; we’re just getting started.
H/T theScore