The Dallas Mavericks made the massive decision at the NBA trade deadline to trade for star point guard Kyrie Irving. They gave up a number of key role players to pull off that trade, and it looks like they are looking at bringing in another former All-Star to fill out their bench for a potential postseason run.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, former Portland Trail Blazers star LaMarcus Aldridge is set to work out with the Mavericks on Tuesday. This likely means that if all goes well, he could be interested in signing with the Mavericks for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
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.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 14, 2023
This is certainly an extremely surprising development for Aldridge considering his health concerns in recent years. He announced his sudden retirement in 2021 due to an irregular heartbeat, only to shortly return for a one-year stint with the Brooklyn Nets last season.
At 37 years old, it appears that he is now eyeing another return to the NBA, which the NBA world certainly took notice of.
— Whistle (@WhistleSports) February 14, 2023
Interesting. https://t.co/FKSxpJ7hJD
— Mike Bacsik (@MikeBacsik) February 14, 2023
lemarcus aldridge is one year younger than lebron https://t.co/vtxeO5e1vU
— mike taddow (@MikeTaddow) February 14, 2023
https://twitter.com/DaveDuFourNBA/status/1625312515977793536
The Mavs are just guessing with the best of them https://t.co/vZ0RfqHu8A
— Cameron Tabatabaie (@CTabatabaie) February 14, 2023
Aldridge certainly had an impressive NBA resume, making seven All-Star games and five All-NBA teams in 16 NBA seasons. This potential signing with Dallas makes a ton of sense for Aldridge, who is from Seagoville, Texas, which is about 20 minutes from Dallas.
He may not be the same player he once was a year removed from NBA competition. However, he could certainly be a valuable piece to the Mavericks bench unit and provide some veteran leadership in Dallas.