Santi Aldama's 2025-26 season ended early and quietly. He hadn't played since Feb. 4 because of lingering knee pain, and in mid-March the Grizzlies announced he'd undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee, including an orthobiologic injection aimed at calming down discomfort in the trochlear compartment. Before that shutdown, Aldama was in the middle of a career year, putting up 14 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists a night while shooting 35% from three on 4.7 attempts a game across 43 outings.
That breakout is exactly why Dallas went and got him this summer. The Mavericks acquired Aldama from Memphis in a deal that sent AJ Johnson, a protected 2030 first-round pick and two future second-rounders back to the Grizzlies, betting on the 25-year-old's stretch-big upside fitting next to their young core. The catch is he arrived rehabbing a knee that had already ended his season a few months earlier.
Now comes the first real update on that rehab. According to Marc Stein, the belief inside the Mavericks organization is that Aldama will be ready to go when training camp practices open around Sept. 23. That's earlier than the typical leaguewide start, and it's not a coincidence -- Dallas and Houston are among the teams cleared to begin camp ahead of the Sept. 29 opening date because both franchises have preseason games scheduled abroad.
The belief in Dallas, I'm told, is Santi Aldama will be ready for training camp when practices start (Sept. 23-ish). Aldama had mid-March knee surgery. The Mavs and Rockets are able to hold practices before the leaguewide Sept. 29 start because they play preseason games abroad.
The overseas trip in question sends the Mavericks and Rockets to Macao for a pair of NBA China Games in October, part of the reason both clubs need extra ramp-up time before the games actually count. For Dallas, that means Aldama needs to be tested and cleared well before the rest of the league is even lacing up.
None of this is a guarantee -- knee procedures involving an orthobiologic injection aren't nothing, and "the belief is he'll be ready" is still a step below a full clean bill of health. But for a Mavericks front office that just paid real draft capital to get Aldama in the building, hearing that camp is realistically in play is the best news they could've gotten this close to the calendar flipping to September.
If Aldama does show up ready to roll, Dallas gets a stretch big who was averaging a career-high scoring clip before the knee shut him down -- exactly the kind of frontcourt shooting the roster has been chasing. Watch for a health update as camp actually approaches; that's when we'll find out if the belief in Dallas matches reality.