LaMarcus Aldridge Is Playing On An Expiring Contract

One of the main reasons why LaMarcus Aldridge’s name has floated around in trade rumors is because he is in the final year of his contract. The 35-year old veteran big man is owed $24M this season, which could seem like a lot to trade for given they would only have him for one year, but this could actually be a major win for the Mavericks.

Not only can Aldridge help them this year in their hunt to make a deep playoff run, but they would have cap space to play around with next offseason. For years, the Mavericks have been a team that has not had a lot of salary space to pursue big names in free agency, but if they opt not to re-sign Aldridge if they were to trade for him, then they would have roughly $10M-$13M to spend.

Not only does this give them options moving forward, but it sets the Mavericks up for what they want. Their front-office and owner Mark Cuban have been very vocal about wanting to bring in high-level talents to play with Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis and this trade does just that. 

They not only get LaMarcus Aldridge this year in pursuit of a deep playoff run, but they would have the capability to go out in free agency next offseason and pursue some of the biggest names available. 

Luka Doncic needs some help and as things stand right now, he is on his own in Dallas. Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. have been two reliable scorers for this team, but at the end of the day, Luka is the only one who can win this team games. 

Bringing in another reliable, proven scorer not only takes a lot of weight off of Luka’s shoulders, but makes this Mavericks team better overall.