LaMarcus Aldridge was considered the most coveted free agent this offseason. Request for his services were mainly between four teams, the San Antonio Spurs, the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Lakers or returning to the Portland Trailblazers. He had two meetings with the Lakers after numerous reports leaked about how bad the first one went, he never ended up meeting with the Knicks, and there were reports that there was an issue with him and Damian Lillard becoming the franchise player which is why he departed from Portland. Well Aldridge is finally speaking out and explaining the truth in each situation.
via Basketball Insiders:
On the Lakers:
“With the Lakers, it wasn’t anything crazy,” Aldridge said. “It was just the [first] meeting didn’t go as well as I wanted it to, so I did another one. People blew it out of proportion about things happening in the meeting. That wasn’t correct. It just didn’t go as good as I wanted it to so I had one more.”
On the Knicks:
“About the New York Knicks, they told me that they wanted me to play strictly [center],” Aldridge said. “So they didn’t want to meet with me. People was saying it was me, but it was both parties agreeing that we shouldn’t meet.”
On the Trail Blazers:
Aldridge also put to rest any rumors about friction between him and All-Star guard Damian Lillard leading to his departure.
“We got along very well during the season,” Aldridge said. “I thought we played well off of each other. So, all of that stuff is just rumors that I’ve dealt with before. Me leaving had nothing to do with any of that. It was just me feeling like being close to home, by my family, being able to see them more and just a change of scenery. I had been in Portland for nine years. I had been through a couple of rebuilds, so it was just time to try something new. It wasn’t anything toward Damian or the organization.”
