NBA Rumors: Speculation Surrounding LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and More
The 2015 NBA playoffs continue to thrill fans on both sides of the bracket, but the majority of teams in the league are already looking ahead to next season.
Only a handful of squads still have a chance to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy this year, but everyone can dream of bigger things in the immediate future with the draft and free agency around the corner. Naturally, the corresponding rumors surrounding player and coach movement are already circulating throughout the Association.
Here is a look at some of the latest whispers.
Boston Celtics Eyeing a Pair of Portland Trail Blazers
The Boston Celtics surprised commentators and fans across the league when they made the playoffs this season. They were clearly ahead of schedule with a number of young role players and no established superstars, and coach Brad Stevens received plenty of credit for his squad’s performance.
If Boston somehow managed to land a superstar or two, it would be a major player in the Eastern Conference as soon as next season.
CSNNE.com’s A. Sherrod Blakely suggested the Celtics have their eyes on impending free agents LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews (via Jay King of MassLive.com): "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.”
Aldridge and Matthews were two major cogs in the Portland Trail Blazers’ attack this season and would provide a legitimate boost to the Celtics on both ends of the floor. Aldridge averaged 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season, and Matthews averaged 15.9 points per game behind 38.9 percent shooting from three-point range.
Matthews also consistently defended the opponent’s best perimeter player for the Trail Blazers before he tore his Achilles and missed the rest of the season.
The Celtics have a number of young, complementary players, such as Marcus Smart, Jared Sullinger, Evan Turner and Kelly Olynyk. If they added a four-time All-Star like Aldridge and an underrated outside threat like Matthews, their prospects in a watered-down Eastern Conference would look much better next season and beyond.
Boston found itself competitive in most of its playoff losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the Cavs simply had LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in crunch time. The Celtics could have crunch-time answers of their own with Aldridge and Matthews the next time around.
Tyus Jones May Come Home
The Minnesota Timberwolves have a bright future, even in the loaded Western Conference. Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Ricky Rubio, Gorgui Deng, Shabazz Muhammad and Anthony Bennett are all 25 years old or younger, and it is only natural to expect some development moving forward.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN in Minneapolis suggested that the Timberwolves could add another young contributor to that group during the NBA draft:
Jones is a Minnesota native and played some of his best basketball of the season for Duke in the biggest moments. He was the best player on the floor in the Blue Devils’ impressive win at Wisconsin and was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four.
Duke ultimately won the national title, and Jones’ leadership, passing prowess and shooting ability played a major role.
His Apple Valley coach Zach Goring discussed what Jones means for the Minnesota community, per Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “His success goes beyond our school. It’s throughout basketball in the entire state of Minnesota. He has always treated people the right way, so a lot of people feel connected to him. That’s a credit to Tyus.”
Even more people in Minnesota would feel connected to Jones if he laced it up for the Timberwolves next season. The idea of Jones, Wiggins and LaVine developing together is certainly enticing for Minnesota fans, and the playoffs would be a legitimate goal in the near future.
Chicago Bulls' Coaching Staff in Turmoil
The Chicago Bulls’ bench will likely look much different next season. Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv noted that assistant Ed Pinckney could very well be in the college ranks in 2015-16:
This is undoubtedly connected to the possibility that head coach Tom Thibodeau will no longer prowl the Chicago sidelines next year. Adrian Wojnarowski noted that the relationship is fractured with the front office, and Iowa State's Fred Hoiberg is “management's choice to ultimately be the replacement.”
ESPN's Marc Stein added some context to the possibility that Thibodeau is on the way out:
The Bulls have been snake-bitten by injuries throughout Thibodeau’s career, and he deserves plenty of credit for leading them to the postseason anyway the past few years. However, Chicago has come up short in the playoffs, largely because it ran into LeBron James multiples times, and it seems like a matter of time before the entire coaching staff looks different.
That apparently will include the departure of Pinkney.
