For the Mavericks, Santi Aldama isn’t arriving as just another big who can hang around the arc and wait for kick-outs. At 7 feet, he gives Dallas a kind of offensive flexibility the roster hasn’t had from its big men: a player who can shoot it, put it on the floor, make a play, and score in multiple ways.
Aldama’s 3-point shot is part of the appeal, sure. Last season, he hit 35.0 percent from deep on 4.7 attempts per game, and he was one of only four 7-footers to average at least 1.5 triples per game. But that label only scratches the surface.
More than half of his shots came from inside the arc. About 30 percent of his field goal attempts came at the rim, around 17 percent from five to nine feet, 11 percent from the mid-range, and the other 43 percent from beyond the line. That kind of distribution matters because it shows he’s not functioning as a one-note stretch big.
He also isn’t limited to standing still and waiting for the ball. Roughly 39 percent of his shot attempts came after he took at least one dribble.
In 43 appearances last season, he got off 68 pull-ups, which comes out to about 1.6 pull-up attempts per game. That was more than all but four Mavericks based on last season’s statistics.
And when Aldama attacks a closeout, he doesn’t just settle. He averaged 5.1 drives per game and converted 52.7 percent of those attempts. He also paired that activity with a 10.1 assist percentage and just a 3.2 turnover percentage, which is the kind of clean decision-making Dallas hasn’t had from its frontcourt players.
That’s where the fit gets interesting. Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, and Moussa Cisse are the only true bigs on the roster, so there’s not much overlap there.
P.J. Washington came closest in terms of driving volume, but he averaged fewer points and had a higher turnover percentage than assist percentage on drives.
And he’s not really the same type of comparison anyway at 6-foot-7.
So while Aldama may not be some mythical outlier in the modern NBA, he does stand apart for Dallas. He gives the Mavericks a pick-and-pop option for Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg, a floor-spacer who can also attack off the bounce, and a big who can create instead of just finish. For a team that hasn’t gotten that kind of versatility from its front line, that’s a real new wrinkle.
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Kyrie Irving Could Solve The Mavs Problem That Kept Costing Wins
The Mavericks spent much of last season right there in the fight, only to see too many tight games slip away before the finish. A 26-win year left plenty of room for improvement, but it also gave a young roster a seasons worth of lessons in how little margin there is when games tighten late, and why late possessions often decide the difference between a decent record and a frustrating one.
Kyrie Irving changes the equation in a way Dallas has not had before. His reputation as a steadying force in clutch moments is exactly the kind of presence that can help a group that has already been through the grind of close games, and the hope inside the organization is that his veteran feel for those situations can turn all that near-miss experience into actual wins before the season gets away from them. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Fans Have Every Reason To Reject This Bleak Future Outlook
Dallas has spent the offseason building around a very different-looking young core, adding Morez Johnson Jr. and Sergio De Larrea through the draft while also bringing in Santi Aldama, Marcus Sasser and Zaccharie Risacher in trades. For a franchise trying to reset its timeline without losing sight of the present, those moves at least give the roster more avenues to grow, and they help explain why some around the league see more upside here than a simple midtier projection would suggest.
The optimism starts with the names already on hand and the belief that the group can mature together, especially if health and development break the right way. Kyrie Irving remains a central figure, Dereck Lively II is viewed as a key piece in the frontcourt and Cooper Flagg adds another layer of intrigue to the long view, leaving the Mavericks with a future that feels far less settled than outside evaluations would imply. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Fans May Be Missing What Makes Morez Johnson Jr. Matter
Morez Johnson Jr. arrived with enough draft pedigree to get immediate attention, but the early read on his game in Summer League suggested the Mavericks may have landed something a little more layered than a quick scoring fix. The rookie showed the kind of defensive activity, physicality and extra-effort play that tends to translate well once the games start counting, even if his offense still looks like work in progress.
For Dallas, the important part may be resisting the urge to judge him by points alone in his first season. Players who carve out value with hustle, switching and toughness can earn minutes long before the shot comes around, and Johnson Jr. already looks like the sort of young piece whose impact could grow in ways that do not show up right away on the box score. [Read more 🡒]