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The pursuit of free-agent power forward LaMarcus Aldridge is fast becoming one of the most intense and comprehensive the NBA has ever seen.
After scheduling meetings with seven interested teams (and offering substantial hope to at least three of them), Aldridge is reportedly being pursued by another high-profile outfit at the 11th hour.
The Miami Heat are reportedly looking to secure an audience with the All-NBAer, and according to TNT's David Aldridge, team president Pat Riley will meet with him Thursday.
Miami is one of the league's preeminent free-agency destinations, but as Aldridge demonstrated in spurning the Los Angeles Lakers after the sides met Wednesday, he's far more interested in the practical basketball side of things.
And the practicality in Miami will be a tough sell, given the positional overlap between Aldridge and Chris Bosh, and the fact the Heat - with a reported $90 million committed to Goran Dragic and a deal with Dwyane Wade reportedly in the works - would have to do some pretty acrobatic (and potentially debilitating) cap gymnastics to make a deal work.
For those playing math games, only sign-and-trade for Bosh (or Wade?) could make any realistic Heat-Blazers math work for Aldridge...
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) July 2, 2015
Meanwhile, Aldridge is embracing the spirit of forgiveness and giving the Lakers a second chance to sway him, Wojnarowski reports.
After leaving the first meeting with a bad taste in his mouth due to the team's focus on external factors like the perks of Hollywood and personal branding, Aldridge will meet only with general manager Mitch Kupchak and head coach Byron Scott - and talk only about basketball - this time around, according to David Aldridge.
A source close to the Lakers reportedly told Wojnarowski: "They want to see if they can get it right." Which should be super comforting.
With so much going on, Aldridge has had to scratch some things from his day book to free up the necessary time and energy to see the whirlwind process through.
Sadly, that's come at the expense of the New York Knicks, one of the seven teams Aldridge had initially scheduled sit-downs with. That meeting has been canceled, TNT's Aldridge reports, apparently owing primarily to the fact that the Knicks wanted Aldridge to play center, a notion he is adamantly opposed to.
Meanwhile, Aldridge's Portland Trail Blazers teammate Damian Lillard, fresh off signing a five-year, $125-million extension with the club, took an impromptu trip to Los Angeles - where Aldridge has been taking meetings - to do his best to convince the big man to return to Portland, according to USA Today's Sam Amick.
As always, stay tuned.
