LaMarcus Aldridge was easily the biggest name that joined a different team this summer. Aldridge is one of the best big men in the entire NBA and his services were highly coveted. There were truly four contenders for Aldridge: Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Obviously, Aldridge ultimately chose the San Antonio Spurs, which was probably the best decision for him in this stage of his career. LMA didn’t like the focal points of his meeting with the Lakers and didn’t even organize a meeting with the Rockets. That left the Knicks and the Spurs.
Aldridge and the Knicks seemed to have mutual interest but they didn’t end up even holding a meeting. Aldridge opened up recently on ESPN’s Russillo Show why the meeting in the Big Apple never happened:
“They didn’t want to meet with me, some people said it was me. But it was both parties agreeing that we shouldn’t meet.”
Aldridge also said that the Knicks wanted him to play “strictly” at center. LaMarcus obviously was not in favor of that idea, this resulting in the two parties mutually agreeing to not even hold a meeting. It had been reported that Phil Jackson was looking for his long term center in free agency and Aldridge didn’t want to exclusively play at the 5. The Knicks desperately needed a center at that juncture and had already missed out on DeAdnre Jordan and Greg Monroe, but they did land a decent consolation prize as they signed Robin Lopez to a 4 year deal.
