Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[KillerLeft]

I'm wondering if the Mavs are thinking that Aldama possibly has a Avdija jump in him with an expanded role. Aldama's stats last season are very close to Avdija's from 2 seasons ago. Maybe they think he's a hidden gem. He's taller than Advdija, but they have similar skill sets. Although not close in production at the moment.

I don't personally think Aldama's future is as an Avdija-style point forward, but to your point, I do think he's valuable in terms of pulling opposing defenders (bigger ones) out of the paint in a way that literally none of the current Mavs bigs (including forwards) can, and I think his face up offensive skills are surprising. I think he's likely to continue to improve at attacking closeouts, making reads out of the short roll or out of pick and pop, etc. 

I don't think he's a starter, but a very, very useful player to have around.