The Mavericks may finally get the frontcourt piece they spent the summer chasing.
Santi Aldama was upgraded to probable for Friday’s NBA Cup group-stage game against the Utah Jazz, putting him on track to make his Dallas debut after recovering from knee surgery in March. Max Christie also moved to probable with hip soreness after missing Wednesday’s one-point loss in San Antonio. Sergio de Larrea, Tarik Biberovic and Dereck Lively II remain out.
Aldama is the bigger deal by far. Dallas landed the 25-year-old in the six-team blockbuster trade that remade the roster in June, and he comes in off a career year in Memphis. He averaged 14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 35.3 percent from 3-point range.
That kind of shooting is exactly what Dallas has been missing. The Mavericks built this roster around size in the offseason, rolling out a frontcourt mix of Daniel Gafford, P.J.
Washington, Morez Johnson Jr. and Moussa Cisse. The problem is simple: none of them consistently spaces the floor.
Gafford has taken just one 3-pointer all season, Johnson hit the first 3 of his career Wednesday in San Antonio and Washington has never been a steady long-range threat.
Aldama gives the offense a different shape. A 6-foot-11 big who can knock down shots from 25 feet forces opposing centers to leave the paint, and that should create more room for Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving to attack.
It also gives coach Dusty May lineup options he has not had yet. The look with Aldama at center and Flagg at power forward is exactly the kind of combination the front office likely had in mind when it made the trade.
His presence would have mattered Wednesday, too. Dallas had no answer for Victor Wembanyama’s 52-point, 24-rebound night, and the Spurs piled up 22 offensive rebounds against a Mavericks group that needed a 6-foot-11 defender who could stay on the floor without fouling.
The timing is important because Dallas is already trying to stop a slide. The Mavericks have dropped two straight, including a 115-100 home loss to a winless Sacramento team Monday and a 112-111 defeat in San Antonio after wiping out a 17-point halftime deficit. They are 4-4 and sitting 11th in the Western Conference.
Utah should be a manageable place for Aldama’s first game. The Jazz are 1-7 and will be without Jusuf Nurkic and Jaren Jackson Jr., which could give Dallas some room to test different combinations instead of asking everything to click immediately.
There’s also a little symmetry here. Utah drafted Aldama 30th overall in 2021 before trading his rights to Memphis on draft night. Now his first game in a Mavericks uniform could come against the team that originally picked him.
In Other News...
Cooper Flaggs Historic Start Just Got More Complicated
Cooper Flaggs first month in the NBA has already pushed him into rare company, and the early numbers are still striking for a 19-year-old trying to find his footing in Dallas. Entering the recent game against the San Antonio Spurs, he was averaging 25.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.5 assists, production that has helped him move into the conversation with some of the best teenage scorers the league has ever seen.
The recent scoring dip has made the climb a little more complicated, even as his place on the all-time list continues to grow. With 17 games left before he turns 20, Flagg still has time to add to that standing, but the next few weeks will say plenty about how high he can rise before this chapter closes. [Read more 🡒]
Cooper Flaggs Scoring Slump Is Becoming A Real Mavericks Concern
Cooper Flagg still found ways to impact the game in the Mavericks 112-111 loss to the Spurs, finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Even so, the bigger takeaway was the same one that has followed him lately: the shot is not falling with the kind of consistency Dallas needs, and the rookies recent stretch has started to draw real attention inside the building.
Dusty May and Kyrie Irving both addressed Flaggs performance and the challenge he is working through, a sign that this is becoming more than a one-game issue. For a Mavericks team trying to steady itself in close games, Flaggs production matters, but so does the way he responds when the scoring comes harder than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Naji Marshall Just Showed Dallas An Offensive Option It Desperately Needed
Naji Marshall gave Dallas a much-needed glimpse of a different kind of offense in a tight game against the Spurs, turning in a 22-point night on efficient shooting while helping steady a comeback effort. His ability to score in a variety of ways stood out, especially in a setting where the Mavericks were searching for cleaner looks and more room to operate.
Marshalls value may be even greater if Dallas keeps leaning into smaller, more flexible lineups around him. With his pick-and-roll comfort and efficiency at the rim and in the mid-range, he looks like the kind of secondary creator who can make the offense less predictable, which is exactly the sort of option the Mavericks have been trying to uncover. [Read more 🡒]