Aminu reaches agreement on $30 million deal with Blazers

DALLAS – If the Dallas Mavericks hope to retain free agent Al-Farouq Aminu, they better hope he does to the Portland Trail Blazers what Jason Kidd did to the Mavs three summers ago.

Shortly after the free agency period opened late Wednesday night, Yahoo! Sports reported that Aminu had verbally agreed to sign a four-year, $30 million contract with the Blazers. That commitment is a huge blow to the Mavs, who wanted so dearly to bring Aminu back after his successful one-year tenure in Dallas.

Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki especially praised the job Aminu did in the first round of playoffs on defense while using his angular 6-9, 215-pound frame to guard Houston’s James Harden.

"I thought he played extremely well during the playoffs,’’ Nowitzki said. "I thought he was phenomenal, made it hard on James, just using his length really well.

"I think he worked on his shooting throughout the year, so he had some good shooting games. But he’s a slasher and a great energy player.’’

Since players can’t officially sign their free agent contracts until July 9, the door isn’t completely closed on the Aminu-Mavs reunion. Mavs’ fans have a hard history lesson on this matter.

About this same time back in the summer of 2012, Jason Kidd verbally agreed to sign a three-year, $9 million contract to return and play for the Mavs. Then, a stunning development occurred which rocked the Mavs’ franchise.

Before the NBA’s moratorium period was lifted, Kidd shockingly changed his mind, surprisingly turned his back on the Mavs and decided to sign a three-year, $9 million contract with the New York Knicks.

In Aminu’s case, the Mavs are hoping to get a chance to convince the 6-9, 215-pounder to sign a two-year deal with a player option which would enable him to become a free agent next summer when the NBA’s salary cap makes a gigantic increase.

Under that scenario the Mavs would have ownership of Aminu’s early Bird rights and conceivably could exceed the salary cap and award him with a long-term contract worth more than what the Blazers offered late Wednesday night.

In 74 games for the Mavs this past season Aminu averaged 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per contest and shot 41.2 percent from the field. But when given 30 minutes per game during the Mavs’ five-game first-round playoff series against Houston, he averaged 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds and shot a healthy 54.8 percent from the floor.

"He was one of the really bright spots of this year,’’ free agent center Tyson Chandler said. "He reminded me a little bit of myself and others who have been in similar situations where you’ve kind of been on teams that you didn’t necessarily find your spot and your home.

"I feel like he’s always been a promising player throughout his career. Teams never put him necessarily in a position to succeed, and this year was kind of a growing experience for him because I think from those teams that he’s played on, you almost sometimes become a whipping boy.’’

The Mavs truly believe Aminu is ready to next the next magical step upwards and become an every day starter. Now, they only hope they can somehow convince him to pull a Jason Kidd and change his mind – and return to play for the Mavs.

"He grew, he was encouraged every day, coaches were working with him every day,’’ Chandler said. "He saw the fruits of his labor on the run that he made in the playoffs and he showed a lot of teams, including this organization, how valuable he is and what he’s capable of doing.

"I think he’s going to have a bright future. I said it when I saw him early in the summer before preseason started that I thought he had the potential to be a great defender (and) by the end of the year he really showed it.’’

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 12:39 AM with the headline "Aminu reaches agreement on $30 million deal with Blazers."