SANTI Aldama

Aldama is a 7-0, 215-pound forward-center wearing number 34. He is 25 years old and entering his sixth season after five in the league, all of last season spent in Memphis. His size and shooting make him a stretch big who can play either frontcourt spot. Last season he shot 35.0 percent from three and 47.9 percent from the field, with a true shooting mark of 57.2 percent. His usage rate was 19.1 percent, so he was a complementary piece rather than a primary option. He averaged 2.9 assists, which is solid passing for a big, and kept turnovers low at 1.3 per game. The one weak number was the free throw line, where he hit just 66.7 percent.

Aldama played 43 games for the Grizzlies last season and averaged 27.9 minutes. His line was 14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks. His plus-minus was -1.1 per game. The 43-game total is the number that stands out, since it means he missed a large chunk of the schedule. His last logged game with real minutes came on February 4 against Sacramento, when he scored 12 points with 6 rebounds in 24.1 minutes in a win. Before that, he put up 17 points and 7 rebounds against Houston on January 26, and 18 points against Orlando on January 15. His best all-around game in that stretch was January 9 against Oklahoma City, with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

The run of games from January 6 through February 4 gives a clear picture of what Aldama looks like when he is playing regular minutes. He scored in double figures in seven of those eight games. He pulled down 8 rebounds against Brooklyn on January 11 in a 15-point outing, and 9 rebounds against San Antonio on January 6. His minutes ranged from 22.2 against Phoenix to 33.2 against Brooklyn. The Phoenix game on January 7 was his roughest, with 7 points and a -18 plus-minus in a loss. In the January 18 win over Orlando he had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists with a +23. That is the kind of two-way floor-spacing production the Mavericks will want from him once the knee cooperates.

Aldama has shown up in Mavericks notes columns twice in the past month. On September 28, Grant Afseth's Mavericks notes covered Aldama alongside Gafford, M. Johnson, Christie and May. That column ran the same day Aldama's injury status changed to an undisclosed issue. On October 18, another Mavs notes piece included Aldama with Washington, De Larrea and Johnson. On October 11, Grant Afseth published injury notes that touched on the Mavericks along with D. Murray, Haliburton and Bryant. None of this reporting changes his status: he is out Wednesday with the knee, and the next checkpoint is the October 23 estimated return.