The Los Angeles Lakers have had a rough start to the free agency period. Despite being the first team to meet with LaMarcus Aldridge, team officials failed to convince him that Los Angeles was the best fit him.

— Have you seen the ‘Bleed Purple and Gold’ phone case? —

Aldridge reportedly wanted more of a basketball focus during the presentation. Since the Lakers couldn’t offer too much on the talent standpoint, it had to sell promise and opportunity. Kobe Bryant tried to convince Aldridge of the Lakers’ commitment to to winning by bringing up the infamous vetoed trade, according to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding:

Bryant didn’t stop there: He brought up the blocked Chris Paul trade to Aldridge as even greater proof of Mitch Kupchak’s team-building brilliance.

Through the failed trade, Bryant looked to show Mitch Kupchak’s ability to do amazing things to build championship-ready rosters. Kupchak has had a tough time since. He was able to acquire Steve Nash and Dwight Howard months after the ordeal and took another calculated risk. Obviously, it didn’t go according to plan with the Lakers and Kupchak still trying to pick up the pieces.

It’s going to take some shrewd genius for the Lakers to pull something off in the thinning free agent market. Given the Lakers now have a legitimate young core to build around, the team could ultimately grab players to help their development in hopes of bringing the Lakers back to respectability in the future.

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