Lakers News: Hottest Scoops on LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Jim Buss

The Los Angeles Lakers are no strangers to stealing headlines, and that is precisely what they have done throughout free agency thus far by taking a run at signing some of the top stars available on the open market.

Its efforts have been fruitless thus far, but Los Angeles is unlikely to lessen its pursuit until the players put pen to paper. While it doesn't look as though the Lakers are favored to land big-name guys such as LaMarcus Aldridge and DeAndre Jordan, they are doing all they can to bring in a difference-maker who can complement Kobe Bryant, D'Angelo Russell and Co.

As L.A.'s attempt at an accelerated rebuild continues, here is a rundown of the latest happenings emanating from Southern California.

LaMarcus Aldridge

As arguably the top free agent available, it comes as little surprise that the Lakers have shown a great deal of interest in power forward LaMarcus Aldridge. L.A. is so enamored with the former Portland Trail Blazers star, in fact, that it met with him for a second time Thursday.

According to ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne, the Lakers brass took another run at attempting to impress Aldridge after their initial sit-down didn't go as well as hoped.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the 29-year-old All-Star wasn't enamored with what Los Angeles brought to the table the first time they met.

That was largely due to the fact that the Lakers didn't place enough emphasis on the topics that Aldridge considered to be most important, according to Wojnarowski:

After learning that the former University of Texas standout had major reservations about the Lakers, they altered their second presentation significantly, per Shelburne. They reportedly apologized for the first meeting and placed more focus on basketball the second time around with general manager Mitch Kupchak and head coach Byron Scott leading the way, while assistant coach Mark Madsen discussed analytics.

The Lakers efforts may ultimately be all for naught as the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns are still atop Aldridge's list, according to Shelburne.

It is tough to blame Los Angeles for going after Aldridge, though, as his presence would instantly make the Lakers a threat in the Western Conference after an awful 2014-15 campaign. L.A. could really use an elite big man to go along with Kobe and Russell, but that may not come in the form of Aldridge unless he has a change of heart.

DeAndre Jordan

Aldridge may be the Lakers' preferred target, but they have a backup plan in place in the form of Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who met with the team Wednesday.

According to Mark Medina of InsideSoCal.com, L.A. met with the 26-year-old big man for two hours, although it is unclear whether the sales pitch impressed him. In comparison, Jordan spoke with the Dallas Mavericks for over four hours, and they are considered the co-favorites to land his services along with the Clips, per ESPN.com's Tim MacMahon.

Following Jordan's visit with the Lakers, ESPN's Bomani Jones quipped that location was likely a huge part of their pitch:

While Jordan wouldn't make as big of an offensive impact on the Lakers as Aldridge, he could be an equally important signing if Los Angeles finds a way to secure him. The Lakers ranked 29th in the NBA defensively last season as they allowed over 105 points per game, and Jordan would help significantly in that regard.

The NBA All-Defensive First Team selection led the league with 15.0 rebounds per game this past season and registered 2.2 blocks per contest as well. He also improved his offensive game to the tune of an 11.5-point scoring average, which makes him a far more complete player than most expected him to become.

Jordan has excelled with the Clippers thanks to his on-court connection with point guard Chris Paul, and the Lakers can offer something similar with Russell as the No. 2 overall selection in the 2015 NBA draft is already considered an elite passer.

Los Angeles seems to be fighting an uphill battle with Jordan currently, but it has been extremely fortunate and skilled with regard to luring free agents over the years, so perhaps it will manage to steal him away from the organizations that are currently considered his top choices.

Jim Buss

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The Lakers are doing all they can to speed up the rebuilding process by going after the top free agents on the market, and much of that has to do with the timeline set forth by president of basketball operations Jim Buss.

Buss laid out a three-year plan to get Los Angeles back in contention, and team president Jeanie Buss reiterated that her brother intends to step down if the Lakers don't bounce back during that time frame, according to an interview with KPCC (h/t ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes):

"

Yeah, absolutely. This is my job. I'm part-owner of the team, but I'm also the president. The Buss family is the majority owner but we have other partners as well who are also shareholders, and I have an obligation to them. Would I make those changes? Yes. My brother understands that we have to continue to strive for greatness, and I think he would be the first one to feel that he would need to step down if he can't get us to that point.

"

L.A. is already one year into that plan, which means it will need to be a player in the Western Conference by the 2016-17 campaign in order for Buss to save his job.

Per Holmes, Jeanie Buss described "contention" as the Lakers making it to at least the Western Conference Finals in two years:

"

Well, I asked my brother, how long until we're back into contention? And when I say 'contention,' that means past the second round, so either the Western Conference finals or the NBA Finals. And he told me that it would take three years to rebuild it. So we've just finished Year 1 of that three-year (plan). So we have two more years until he feels that we'll be back into going past the second round in the playoffs.

"

There is no question that Buss' goal is an ambitious one considering how terrible the Lakers were last season. They have some good, young pieces in place such as Russell and Julius Randle, but there are huge question marks aside from them.

It is unclear precisely how much longer Bryant will play, and Los Angeles hasn't enjoyed any success on the free-agent market yet. Unless the Lakers are able to reel in a big fish or two over the next couple offseasons, it certainly seems as though Jim Buss' job is very much in jeopardy.

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