Vague injury status clouds Santi Aldama’s immediate outlook — but what about the full 2026-27 season?

I just want to put this out there right up front. Something about the way the Dallas Mavericks are handling Santi Aldama’s recovery from an undisclosed(?) injury is telling me we should be more patient than we think we must with the player and more skeptical than we usually are about anything the team says about his status as the season approaches.

Something smells awfully funny here. Even under the Masai Ujiri/Gina Miller administration (campaign slogan: “You can trust us this time. We promise.”), this team will find a way to remain somewhere on the spectrum between coy and disingenuous about injuries like these, and that “undisclosed” designation is our first clue.

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What exactly is not being disclosed here? Everyone knows about the knee issues that limited Aldama to 43 games last season. Everyone knows about the arthroscopic stem cell shot procedure he underwent in March to try to relieve prolonged pain in that knee. Did Aldama injure something else after arriving in Dallas? Is the knee issue still nagging, six months after the procedure? Either way, the outlook is murky at best.

The Dallas Morning News reported recently that “it appears they’ll take the same [patient] approach with Aldama [as they are with Dereck Lively II’s recovery timeline].” He did not suit up for either of the two preseason games in Macao, China, and it seems less and less likely that Aldama will be ready to go when the regular season starts.

The Mavericks sent AJ Johnson, a top-20 protected 2030 first-round pick via Golden State, and two future second-round picks to Memphis for Aldama. The deal was folded into a six-team trade that became official on July 8.

Big question

Which brings us to the biggest question surrounding Aldama’s arrival in Dallas for the upcoming season. With such a vague recovery timeline in place, when can Aldama realistically be expected to be a meaningful contributor for the Mavericks, and what role does he fill when that time comes?

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The question lurking behind the question is, did the Mavericks trade for someone destined to become the second broken seven-footer taking up a roster space, or is…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/vague-injury-status-clouds-santi-110000914.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-16 11:00:00

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