Lakers Rumors: Latest Buzz on LaMarcus Aldridge, Amar'e Stoudemire and More

Following yet another disappointing season, the Los Angeles Lakers entered the offseason looking to right the ship. Things began well, as the team was awarded the second pick in the 2015 NBA draft and came away with promising guard D'Angelo Russell. Unfortunately, free agency hasn't been as kind to the franchise.

The Lakers set their sights on several of the biggest names on the open market. Some of those players have already signed with other teams—Kevin Love re-upping with the Cleveland Cavaliers is one example—but a couple remain available. However, they may not be available to the Lakers at this point.

Once such example is DeAndre Jordan. The Lakers set their sights on the talented center; however, they failed to impress during their meeting, and according to a tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the big man doesn't appear to be considering joining Kobe Bryant and Co.:

With Jordan seemingly off the board, the Lakers focused heavily on LaMarcus Aldridge. The power forward has enjoyed plenty of success with the Portland Trail Blazers and is coming off a season in which he averaged 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor.

After the team's first meeting with Aldridge, a potential deal seemed like a far-fetched idea. According to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers' pitch was described as "somewhat underwhelming." From there, rumors of the Lakers being completely out of the running surfaced. One such report came from Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling:

However, Los Angeles did receive a second chance—the team was granted another meeting with Aldridge on Thursday. While the meeting seemingly went far better than the Lakers' previous encounter with the power forward, it didn't seem to be enough to get back into the running, according to a tweet from Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times:

So, if the Lakers are out of the Jordan and Aldridge sweepstakes, where do they turn next?

According to a tweet from Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, the team is looking at a pair of veteran big men:

Amar'e Stoudemire has enjoyed plenty of success during his 13-year career; however, at the age of 32, he's on the tail end of his tenure in the NBA. The center hasn't been a viable starter for quite some time now; however, he did receive 14 starts in 36 appearances with the New York Knicks last season. He finished the year averaging 12.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the floor.

Jason Smith also spent last season—his seventh in the NBA—with the Knicks. He's always been more of a rotational piece than a starter; however, like Stoudemire, he received a few starts last season on a depleted 
New York squad, getting the nod 31 times in 82 games. He finished the season averaging 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 43.4 percent from the floor.

Interestingly enough, those aren't the only rotational big men the Lakers have been looking at recently. According to a tweet from Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, the team has also been linked to Kosta Koufos:

The 7'0" center spent last season with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 5.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. Like both Stoudemire and Smith, Koufos is also mostly a bench player, as he was granted just three starts in 81 games last season.

It will be interesting to see what Los Angeles' plan is for these players. Perhaps the team is looking to generate a committee approach to its frontcourt if it's unable to land a big-ticket player. This is most certainly a situation to keep an eye on in the coming days.