The Chicago Bulls have announced the acquisition of a Nigerian basketball star, Al-Farouq Aminu, from the Orlando Magic.
The Bulls via an official statement on their website also confirmed they acquired centre Nikola Vucevic in exchange for forward Otto Porter Jr. and centre Wendell Carter Jr., as well as two first-round picks with certain lottery position protections.
Aminu in the past years has been a key member of the Nigeria national men’s basketball team-D’Tigers. He was part of the record-breaking team that won the country’s first-ever FIBA Africa Championship (AfroBasket) in Tunisia in 2015.
The 30-year-old ,who was named in the All-Star Five of the 2015 AfroBasket tournament, also represented Nigeria at the London 2012 Olympics.
Selected eighth-overall in the 2010 NBA Draft by the L.A. Clippers, Aminu has averaged 7.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 25.0 minutes per game over his 11-season career with the Clippers, New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Orlando Magic.
In 17 games in the 2020/21 NBA season, he is posting 5.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game on .404 shooting from the field.
A knee injury that required an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee last December meant he missed 27 games at the start of this season.
Aminu has made it into the NBA post-season five times with the Mavericks and Trail Blazers and has averaged 11.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists over 40 games (33 starts).
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