Los Angeles Lakers: Biggest NBA free agency whiffs in recent memory
1. LaMarcus Aldridge (2015)
LaMarcus Aldridge may not be the biggest name on this list. Still, with the way the Lakers botched that one, it was more than deserving of the top spot.
Heck, the Lakers had a second shot at wooing Aldridge after the first attempt went so poorly. Here’s some insight from Mike Bresnehan, then of the Los Angeles Times:
"“He met with them the moment free agency began, considered them part of a ‘two-horse race’ with the San Antonio Spurs and ‘wanted to be wowed’ but was actually turned off by the lack of analytics on the basketball side of their pitch, the person added.”"
Somehow the Lakers convinced him to come back, hoping to sell him on the basketball side of things instead of the appeal of living/playing in Los Angeles. As you can probably imagine, it didn’t go much better, as Aldridge eventually signed with the Spurs, leaving the Lakers starless yet again.
Sources said Lakers had a" good presentation" with LaMarcus Aldridge Thursday, but Lakers "don't think he was wooed" by it.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) July 3, 2015
For the most part, we don’t hear much about these free agency pitches. More often than not, it’s generic statements about it going well, both sides seeing eye to eye, blah, blah, blah… And yet, the Lakers tanked the first try, requested a “follow-up,” and still couldn’t seal the deal. Look up “embarrassment” in the dictionary.
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Los Angeles has had some ugly free agency efforts over the last few years. None, however, left as grotesque of a stain as the botched pitches to Aldridge.