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New York Knicks News: LaMarcus Aldridge Meeting Set

ByKenneth Teape|

New York Knicks News: The Knicks will be busy in Los Angeles this week, as they are not scheduled to meet with unrestricted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge in addition to DeAndre Jordan. Phil Jackson, Derek Fisher and Steve Mills are all expected to be present, as Carmelo Anthony has already reached out to all of the players trying to recruit them to the Big Apple.

The New York Knicks are already set to meet with Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan in Los Angeles this week when the NBA Free Agency period opens up. It turns out that he will not be the only player that the Knicks will be meeting with on the West Coast, as Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge will also be on the docket.

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While the Knicks are considered a longshot to land Aldridge, he will have a meeting with the Knicks by Friday this week according to sources at ESPN. Carmelo Anthony has already reached out to Aldridge, and is one of the recruiting tools that the Knicks have to their advantage. With a high level player already in place, the Knicks will sell playing alongside him as one of the positives to playing with the Knicks. While the Knicks just selected Kristaps Porzingis, another power forward, with the fourth overall pick last week, the chance to play with Anthony and more cap space in 2016 could be intriguing.

While that all sounds good, the Knicks cannot offer Aldridge two of the things he seems to be looking for; contending right away and returning home. While going to the Eastern Conference would greatly improve your chances at reaching the NBA Finals, as only LeBron James truly presents an obstacle, Aldridge could go to teams with better situations in the Western Conference. Two of those teams mentioned are the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks. Both have winning recent histories, and Aldridge could push them to stay in that contender range.

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The Los Angeles Lakers are also expected to have a meeting with Aldridge, which comes as no surprise as they will go hard after big men after selecting D’Angelo Russell with the No.2 overall pick. The surprise team in the running for Aldridge is the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors, after their trade of Greivis Vasquez to the Milwaukee Bucks, have enough cap space to offer Aldridge a lot of money and have thrown their hat into the ring.

Aldridge is hitting the market at a great time, as he is coming off of a career season and he is arguably the best player on the market with a legitimate chance of leaving his team from last season. He averaged 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, and with solid defense as well Aldridge would be quite a catch for whoever ends up signing him.

For the Knicks, he would legitimize the franchise and give them the superstar player they have been waiting to pair with Anthony. His versatility to play power forward or center would give the Knicks a ton of flexibility with their lineup possibilities, as they could go big with Anthony at small forward and Aldridge at power forward with a defensive minded center, or go small moving each of them up a spot.

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Also, the fit in the Triangle offense would be outstanding. Aldridge has arguably the best midrange game of anyone in the NBA, and his post offense is very strong as well. He would fit in perfectly in the high post as a playmaking big, something the Knicks didn’t get consistent production from last season outside of Jason Smith.

Signing Aldridge would give Jackson his first real marquee move as President of the Knicks. It would get a lot of people off of his back. While the Knicks are considered long shots right now, you never know what can happen when the two parties meet this week. The Knicks are in the running as long as Aldridge doesn’t put his name on a contract with another team.

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