NBA Rumors: Celtics To Pursue LaMarcus Aldridge And Wesley Matthews?
USA Today
The NBA free agent market will be open for business in less than two months with teams around the league allowed to pursue free agents on July 1. There will be plenty of big-name players set to hit the open market with All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge being arguably one of the most sought after once available.
All season long, the consensus has been Aldridge will simply re-sign with the Portland Trail Blazers on a lucrative long-term deal. The Blazers will do everything within their power to retain Aldridge, but they may have some stiff competition with a lot of teams gearing up to make run at him in free agency.
At this point in time, the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers have shown considerable interest in bringing in Aldridge. With Aldridge being a Texas native, the Mavericks and Spurs have a leg up on the competition, but a recent rumors circulating around the league has the Boston Celtics getting involved.
According to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com, the Celtics may make a run at Aldridge by also pursuing his friend and current teammate, Wesley Matthews:
“My understanding is the Celtics are going to be open to putting together some type of package deal where they would not only bring in LaMarcus Aldridge, they’d bring in one of his good friends by the name of Wes Matthews. Now, if you’re the Celtics and you can put together a deal to get those two guys in town, you’ve gotta do it.”
The addition of Aldridge and Matthews to an already promising young core of players consisting of Marcus Smart, Isaiah Thomas, and Evan Turner might be a huge step in the right direction for Boston. General manager Danny Ainge has made miracles happen in the past compiling a championship team around Paul Pierce and he might be able to get the team back on track with a huge splash in free agency to sign Aldridge and Matthews.
The Spurs still remain the favorites followed by the Mavericks, but the Celtics could make things tough for both teams in Texas if they lure in Matthews.
