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Former Portland Trail Blazers All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge could be making a return to the NBA, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Free agent F/C LaMarcus Aldridge is working out for the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, sources tell ESPN. Aldridge, a seven-time All-Star, averaged 12.9 points in 47 games for Brooklyn a season ago.
Aldridge, 37, was drafted by the Trail Blazers in 2006 with the No. 2 overall pick out of Texas. He’s made seven career All-Star appearances — four with the Blazers — and helped Rip City advance in the postseason in 2014, as well as the San Antonio Spurs in 2016 and 2017, the latter of which earned him his first trip to the Western Conference Finals.
In April 2021, Aldridge briefly retired from professional basketball due to an irregular heartbeat. In the last we’ve seen of Aldridge upon returning from his infirmities, he produced 12.9 points and 5.5 rebounds on 55 percent shooting from the field in 22 minutes of play per game. He chipped in with one block per game to add to a subpar Nets interior defense.
Brooklyn’s conundrum in his tenure with the franchise was productivity from their centers on the defensive end. Hence, Aldridge’s fixture in the rotation was anything but definite, as he racked up several DNP’s and inactives. When he did play, he contributed on offense, but there were a host of problems that he, Blake Griffin nor Nic Claxton could remedy.
The Mavericks advanced to the Western Conference Finals a season ago after upsetting the Phoenix Suns. They put their stamp on a resounding postseason run with a blowout of Devin Booker and company in game six of that series, sending the 64-win team fishing.
Re-tooling their roster this season, Mark Cuban and Dallas management were able to trade for star point guard Kyrie Irving to give the Mavs more scoring punch, but the team could use some more frontcourt help.
Signing Aldridge would add depth to the Mavs frontcourt, which already features Dwight Powell, Christian Wood, Maxi Kleber and JaVale McGee.
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