BOSTON – The Boston Celtics are in the market for some help at small forward and may turn to former lottery pick Al-Farouq Aminu.
A league source tells CSNNE.com that the 6-foot-9 forward, drafted with the 8th overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2010, has Boston among the handful of teams he plans to visit during the free agency period.
Aminu is far from a household name, but that could easily change if he can pick up where he left off this past season with the Dallas Mavericks.
A knee injury to Chandler Parsons afforded Aminu a greater opportunity to play in the postseason and to his credit, he made the most of increase in playing time the Mavericks’ first-round matchup against Houston.
In the five-game series won by the Rockets, Aminu averaged 11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. He also shot 54.8 percent from the field and a sweltering 63.6 percent on 3s.
But even before his breakout play offensively, Aminu’s defense stood out which was evident by him ranking sixth among all small forwards in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus/Minus Metric.
Because of his length, lateral quickness and the increased use of smaller lineups throughout the league, Aminu can play both forward positions which feeds into Boston’s desire to have as many versatile, multi-positional players on the floor as they possibly can at all times.
Boston Celtics
And while scoring hasn’t necessarily been his calling thus far in the NBA, it might have more to do with opportunity than inability on his part.
Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and Atlanta’s DeMarre Carroll were not considered big-time scorers when the season began, and yet each established themselves as go-to scorers for their respective teams and played pivotal roles in both getting to the playoffs.
Middleton will be a restricted free agent this summer and the Bucks have every intention of re-signing him. Carroll is an unrestricted free agent and is open to re-upping with the Hawks, but there will definitely be serious competition for his services from other teams.
As for Aminu, the Mavericks are still in play but he’s likely to find an increased opportunity for playing time and an increased role elsewhere.
The Celtics will begin free agency hoping to land a player or two at the top of the free agency class like Memphis’ Marc Gasol, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler or Cleveland’s Kevin Love.
But in all likelihood, Boston will have better success at attracting second-tier free agents like Aminu who have shown the potential to be an impact player in spurts but hasn’t had a real opportunity to shine – an opportunity that would be there for the taking if he were signed by the Celtics.