Report: Ex-Blazers PF Al-Farouq Aminu, Magic Agree to 3-Year, $29M Contract

The Orlando Magic and power forward Al-Farouq Aminu reached an agreement Sunday on a three-year, $29 million deal with a player option for the third season, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Aminu spent the past four campaigns with the Portland Trail Blazers. He averaged 9.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 43.3 percent from the field across 81 appearances during 2018-19.

The 28-year-old Atlanta native's all-around value was best encompassed by ESPN's real plus-minus, which ranked him 14th among power forwards (plus-1.68) in his ninth NBA campaign.

Aminu, the No. 8 overall pick out of Wake Forest in the 2010 NBA draft, has also made stops with the Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks.

In March, he told Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders a conversation with former Mavs teammate Richard Jefferson helped shaped his career as one of the league's most reliable role players.

"He was like, 'Man, I'd rather be a guy who the coach knows exactly every night what they're gonna get than to be a guy that's up and down, that might get 20 one night and two the next night,'" Aminu said. "I knew I took that to heart when he told me that. And I remember that stuck out to me."

Al-Farouq Aminu from Way Deep

Aminu has also benefited from the rise of the stretch 4 role in recent years. He's shot 33.7 percent from beyond the arc throughout his career, but he peaked during the 2017-18 season when he made 1.8 threes per game on 36.9 percent shooting from long distance.

His offensive versatility paired with his defensive impact made him one of the Blazers' unsung heroes.

Aminu had carved out a pretty much perfect niche for himself in Portland as a secondary contributor behind the star backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Now he'll be forced to begin trying to find a similar fit in Orlando.

A move to the Magic is somewhat surprising, though, given their crowded frontcourt.

The New York Times' Marc Stein reported they agreed to a four-year, $100 million deal to re-sign Nikola Vucevic, and Wojnarowski reported they agreed to a four-year, $54 million extension with Terrence Ross, who can move between small forward and shooting guard. Orlando also used its 2019 first-round draft pick on Auburn power forward Chuma Okeke.

Although Aminu is a solid role player, the Magic's void at point guard is impossible to ignore.