Lakers Free Agency: LaMarcus signing 4-year, $80 million contract with the Spurs, according to report

LaMarcus Aldridge has made his decision and will sign a four-year, $80 million contract to join the San Antonio Spurs, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The Spurs were considered the front runners to acquire his talents after clearing the necessary salary cap space to sign him, while keeping their core intact.

Aldridge narrowed his choices down to the Phoenix Suns and Spurs, but a chance at extending the Gregg Popovich-Tim Duncan era in his home state of Texas was too alluring. The Los Angeles Lakers met with Aldridge twice, but it was never indicated that the team had made any headway toward signing him.

The Spurs managed to keep Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, only needing to move Tiago Splitter to make room for a big offer to Aldridge. The top of the Western Conference should be extremely competitive, with the defending champions and San Antonio looking like favorites to make runs to the NBA Finals.

The outcome isn't unanticipated for the Lakers, who gave it a shot but didn't look like serious contenders to sign him. Los Angeles has yet to make any signings during free agency, but with DeAndre Jordan and Aldridge making their decisions, they might be prepared to start making moves.