You can never count on the Los Angeles Lakers being bad for too long. The franchise's history speaks for itself. But it's an inescapable fact that these are dark days for the world's most famous basketball team. Two seasons in the tank is bad enough. But now, the Lakers have struck out on their top free agent targets three years in a row. In 2013, Dwight Howard decamped for Houston after a bizarre season in L.A. and an even weirder courtship. In 2014, Carmelo Anthony chose the awful Knicks over the awful Lakers and LeBron didn't even bother considering L.A. And now, the Lakers appear to have lost all three of their top free agent targets on Day 1 of the 2015 free agency festival. Kevin Love decided to stay in Cleveland, Jimmy Butler is staying in Chicago and LaMarcus Aldridge has reportedly ruled out L.A. after a late-night meeting. The details of why Aldridge is looking elsewhere are a fascinating perspective into what ails the Lakers. From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: Aldridge, who turns 30 in two weeks, also failed to connect with Kobe Bryant, who spoke for about three minutes at the presentation. Bryant said he envisioned Aldridge working with him the same way Pau Gasol did, a message that apparently fell flat, though Lakers officials were quick to defend Bryant. "It wasn't his fault at all," said a team official who requested anonymity. To pin this new 2015 failure completely on Kobe is really unfair. Love stayed in Cleveland because of LeBron and Kyrie and $110 million and a shot to make the next six or seven or eight NBA Finals series. Butler is staying in Chicago because restricted free agency is cruel. Aldridge is moving on because the Lakers stink. - See more at: http://www.sbnation.com/2015/7/2/8880797/la-lakers-lamarcus-aldridge-rumors-nba-free-agency-2015
