Mavericks to work out veteran big man LaMarcus Aldridge, per report
The Dallas Mavericks will work out veteran big man LaMarcus Aldridge on Tuesday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Aldridge, now 37, last played for the Brooklyn Nets last season but went unsigned last summer and remains a free agent who is eligible to sign with any team.
Aldridge briefly retired in 2021 due to an irregular heartbeat that was diagnosed shortly after he joined the Nets that season. But just a few months later, in September of 2021, Aldridge reversed course and said that he planned to play again. He then signed a one-year deal with the Nets and played 47 games, averaging 12.9 points and 5.5 rebounds on 55 percent shooting from the field. He did not appear in any of the team’s four playoff games, however, as they were swept out of the first round by the Boston Celtics.
The Mavericks have a thin frontcourt at the moment that features Dwight Powell, Christian Wood and JaVale McGee, so it’s no surprise that they’re on the hunt for some extra depth, especially until Maxi Kleber returns from a torn hamstring that required surgery. It is a surprise, though, that they would target Aldridge.
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Though Aldridge showed with the Nets that he can still be a regular season minutes eater, he doesn’t provide much more than that at this stage of his career. His value to the Mavericks would likely hinge on whether he can rediscover his outside shooting form. After hitting 38.8 percent of his attempts from 2019-21, he shot just 30.4 percent from deep last season. He would get plenty of open looks playing alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and in theory, could give them another floor-spacing big. Even in the best-case scenario, however, he would likely not get on the floor come playoff time.
Perhaps the bigger takeaway is that the Mavericks are clearly not comfortable with their big-man rotation at all if they’re targeting Aldridge.
Source: CBSSports.com
