LA Lakers Rumors: With DeAndre Jordan To Mavs, Lakers Set Sights On Two Other Big Men

The LA Lakers have missed out on signing another big name in 2015 NBA free agency as DeAndre Jordan agreed to join the Dallas Mavericks. Now, they are still looking to be active in the offseason and have set their sights on two other big men, with one being Amar’e Stoudemire and the other that of Jason Smith.

I’m told Lakers have expressed interest in Amare Stoudemire & Jason Smith

— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) July 2, 2015

Early on Friday, Bleacher Report stated that Jordan had agreed to a deal with the Dallas Mavericks that would pay him $80 million over four years with a player option for the final year. He apparently turned down a five-year, $109-million maximum deal from the Los Angeles Clippers to stay put. It seems as if Jordan was not happy with the presentation from the Clippers, and no players were even in attendance for his meeting with the team. Word is that his relationship with Chris Paul also led to his leaving.

“On one hand, there was Jordan’s relationship with Clippers All-Star Chris Paul, which sources told CBSSports.com was demonstrably poor. These things are never one man’s fault, but they believe that Jordan’s relationship with the man who got him the ball in LA played a role here.”

Now, the Lakers have turned their attention to Amar’e Stoudemire, formerly of the Mavs, and Jason Smith, formerly of the New York Knicks, per Lakers Nation.

Houston, Dallas, Clippers, Phoenix among those who’ve registered some degree of interest in @Amareisreal as back-up big, sources say

— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 2, 2015

The competition for Stoudemire is going to be strong, though, as the Rockets, Mavericks, Clippers, and Suns are all said to have interest in him. Sure, he averaged just 16 minutes a game for the Mavs last season, but still averaged over 10 points a game too. He was traded to Dallas from New York in February.

Jason Smith averaged eight points and four rebounds a game for the Knicks last season while averaging 21 minutes.

So far, the Lakers have absolutely nothing to show for all their attempts in free agency. The San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns are now said to be the frontrunners for LaMarcus Aldridge while the Rockets believe they have a shot.

There has been no more mention or rumors of the Lakers in Aldridge talk since their second meeting with him late on Thursday.

The LA Lakers have been involved in a lot of rumors in the three short days of 2015 NBA free agency so far, but nothing has been more than that. There is still a lot of trade ammo in Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell, but nothing has moved further on that either. After missing out on DeAndre Jordan, the Lakers really need to go after Amar’e Stoudemire or anyone at this point.

[Image via Getty Images]