Photo Credit: Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports
It’s been nearly 24 hours since The Dallas Mavericks have been eliminated from the playoffs and one player on that roster could be moving on. Al-Farouq Aminu has decided to opt out of the final season of his minimum salary player option for the 2015-2016 season.
Aminu averaged 18 minutes per game in the regular season, but inserted into the starting lineup after injury to small forward Chandler Parsons in the playoffs. Aminu filled in nicely with 16 points and 12 rebounds in Sundays Game 4 victory and 14 points 9 rebounds in Tuesdays Game 5 loss. Aminu showed off some athleticism with a highlight reel dunk and playing some good defense in the post.
Aminu has underachieved to this point since being drafted 8th overall back in 2010 at the age of 24 though he’s still very young. Aminu may not be a top tier free agent, but if he develops his game some more he can be a nice piece for a contending team or a up and coming team as well. Even though it’s still early I can see teams like The Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and Minnesota Timberwolves having interest in Aminu either teams with salary cap or have interest at developing his game even further.
He’s stated he would like to return to Dallas and Dallas Mavericks General Manager Donnie Nelson has expressed his interest in bringing back the Small Forward they have to utilize the cap space carefully with quite a few possible free agents already on the roster.
