Dallas Mavericks veteran Dirk Nowitzki said he would love to have LaMarcus Aldridge as a team-mate next season.

Aldridge - a Dallas native - is set to become a NBA free agent once his contract with the Portland Trail Blazers expires in July.

The 30-year-old averaged 23.4 points and pulled down 10.2 rebounds per game in 2014-15.

And Mavericks star Nowitzki, who turns 37 on Friday, sees Aldridge as an ideal recruit.

"We'd love to have him," Nowitzki was quoted as saying by the Dallas Morning News.

"He's a great mid-range shooter. He plays bigger than he is on the defensive end. He's a good rebounder on both ends of the floor, and on that left block he's a beast. So I mean, he's a really, really good player."

Nowitzki averaged 17.3 points and 5.9 rebounds as the Mavericks crashed out of the play-offs in the first round, having failed to make it beyond the same stage 12 months earlier.

"We've been ousted twice in the first round the last two years, and whatever I got to do, I'm ready to help," the German added.

"I know that, at 37, I can't be the number one option if we want to play for the championship. That's how the cycle goes.

"Really, if you look at our roster, we only got four or five guys, so we got a lot of work to do. We need a little bit of everything."