LaMarcus Aldridge has reportedly been cleared to play in the NBA again after he abruptly retired last season due to a heart scare. The Brooklyn Nets are the leaders to sign Aldridge after he spent five games with them last season following his San Antonio Spurs buyout, but the Chicago Bulls are also on Aldridge's radar, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
Johnson noted Aldridge's past links to the Bulls in a column and then also brought up the big man having the franchise on his radar on the Bulls Talk Podcast (h/t Lonzo Wire). While the Nets seem like the likely bet even after adding Paul Millsap (the Bulls were interested in Millsap as well), perhaps Chicago can steal Aldridge away from Brooklyn.
The Bulls actually drafted Aldridge with the No. 2 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, but he was promptly traded in order to get Tyrus Thomas, the No. 4 pick in that draft. That move certainly backfired a bit on Chicago given those players' respective career paths, though keeping Aldridge might have meant no Derrick Rose in 2008.
Regardless of all that, the Bulls could use depth in the frontcourt, hence the interest in guys like Aldridge and Millsap. Chicago has already had a massive offseason by acquiring Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan, among others, but the roster is still a bit thin in terms of legitimate size. Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams and DeRozan are the primary frontcourt players, with Derrick Jones Jr., Tony Bradley and Marko Simonovic off the bench.
The Bulls will still be very happy with their offseason no matter what, but getting a guy like Aldridge to team up with DeRozan again would be a nice finishing touch. Chicago hasn't made the playoffs since trading Jimmy Butler in 2017 and is trying to take a big step forward in 2021-22.
Follow Us
Subscribe